Tears Like the Rain
by Anne the Fire
Summary: Orihime is thinking about Ulquiorra one year after he turned to ash.  Will he come back to her?  Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Tears Like the Rain**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters, I only wish I did.**

She was alone again. Staring up at the moon again like she so often did, only there are no bars on her window this time, no endlessly white walls around her, no Ulquiorra around to talk to, and bring her meals, and this she thinks is the saddest part.

It had been one year ago today that he faded away into ash right before her eyes. She could still see that moment as if it were happening again right now. She can still see the look in his eyes, his beautiful green eyes, as he looked at her in his final moments. Looking only at her, he always looked at her and when he did, she always felt as though he was looking at the real her, straight through to her very soul.

If it had been anyone else they might have missed the emotions that crossed his eyes at that moment, but not her. She spent all of her time in Hueco Mundo trying to figure out her supposedly emotionless guardian. Trying to figure out what all of his facial expressions meant, not that he had many. What his eyes would always be trying to tell her and why he was so cold all the time.

Unfortunately for her she didn't get it until it was too late, until he was reaching out to her in his final moments. It was only then that she understood that, in his own way, Ulquiorra had been reaching out to her all along. She'd just been too blind or stubborn too see it. Now it was too late, she can still remember reaching back for him and feeling nothing but ash slip through her fingers, and how it pained her heart.

Her friends had even noticed something wrong with her no matter how she had tried to hide it with fake smiles and laughter. Kurosaki-kun confronted her and asked her what happened to her in Hueco Mundo that "changed" her. All of her friends were there; they were all staring intently at her waiting for an answer. Uryuu was the only one whose gaze wasn't piercing her, but that's only because he had been there on the dome of Las Noches with her.

After she had healed him and Kurosaki-kun had left to go fight and help Rukia, she'd tried to heal Ulquiorra and bring him back to her. After all Aizen had said her powers could defy the limitations set by Gods right?

When it didn't work she had just broken down sobbing and just laid there where he last stood and cried for him. Uryuu didn't know what was wrong with her either at the time so he asked her and all she could say was his name before she started crying even harder, but apparently that was enough for Uryuu to understand somewhat and so he left her alone about it. He didn't know any of the details but he knew enough to know that Orihime cared for the arrancar a great deal. Watching his final moments, he guessed the arrancar cared for her as well. So she cried.

Not being able to take their stares anymore and also unable to answer their questions she just got up and left. She ran home, it had started to rain, how fitting. Her friends had came looking for her after school, they had knocked on her door and tried to apologize if they'd upset her. She had just ignored them until they'd finally given up and gone home before the rain got too bad.

So she found herself staring out the window at the moon through the rain, thinking about him. Her tears were just like the rain outside her window seemed to be, endless.

Meanwhile in Hueco Mundo something was stirring, shifting on top of what was once the great palace of Las Noches. The inhabitants of Hueco Mundo could feel it's power and had abandoned the palace in fear of what was coming. Slowly, bit by bit, smoke swirled brilliantly then became ash and then ever so slowly started to take the form of a demon.

**Author's Note: My first Ulquihime story. I'm so excited so I hope you guys like it. Please Review. I already have the second and third chapters written but I'm not going to post them unless I know somebody wants to actually read them. So review. Thanks.**


	2. Dreaming

**Thank you all for the interest in my story and the kind reviews you left. Sorry it's taken me so long to post the second chapter. I wrote this story out by hand and had yet to type it up and I got distracted working on another story so my apologies. I also spent the last two days watching every episode of Bleach that has Ulquiorra in it. I'm such a stalker when it comes to him…oh well. On with the story…**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. However, if Tite Kubo would like to lend Ulquiorra to me I will gladly accept. Hehe**

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**She wasn't sure when it was that she had fallen asleep. She knew that, she had been crying over Ulquiorra again as she watched the rain. Falling asleep on the floor had given her an awful cramp in her neck though, not to mention it was freezing in her living room. Picking herself up from the floor she took one last look out the window at the rain and whispered something so that only the rain and stars could hear before she headed off to her bedroom trying to stop the flow of tears once more. "I miss you, Ulquiorra."

Outside her window a figure was watching. A demon saw everything from within a garganta. To any onlookers it would appear as though this demon was stalking his prey. Thankfully, most beings in this world could not see him, because that is indeed what the demon was doing, in a way that is. As his consciousness stirred in Hueco Mundo he gradually became aware of things as his body slowly pieced itself back together from nothing. Ashes scattered to the wind.

When his regeneration was complete he could think of only one reason he had been brought back, of only one reason for him to be standing there again, the onna. Standing there looking through the garganta at her as she slept and then awoke he wanted nothing more than to step into her world and announce his return, but something was stopping him, holding him back. He just wasn't sure what it was. It couldn't be fear, fear was a human emotion and he definitely wasn't human. However, he knew he _felt_ something for the onna so perhaps Ichigo Kurosaki had been right about him becoming more human after all.

He was about to step out when he saw her waking up, and he froze. She was waking up and even though she looked like she had been crying, she was just as breathtakingly beautiful as he remembered. While his body was reforming he thought of nothing but her face, and how she had reached back for him as his body crumbled. She looked out the window and said something before leaving for her bedroom. He could hardly believe his eyes, he hadn't been able to hear her but he had clearly been able to read her lips. Her beautiful lips and she had just said that she missed him.

He couldn't believe his eyes; it was hard enough to believe he'd returned to the world, but to believe that she still thought of him, his heart was pounding. Wait… his heart? This was the first time he'd noticed but now upon closer inspection a lot of things seemed different. He'd been so focused on getting to the onna; he hadn't taken time to notice the changes in himself. He'd have time for that later, right now he needed to see the onna, face to face, he needed to hear her voice. He quickly decided that before stepping through the garganta into the human world he should revert back to his other form. He was still in his resureccion segunda etapa and even though it was currently almost depleted his spiritual pressure would affect a wide area and he didn't want the shinigami and his friends showing up and ruining his reunion with the onna.

As he re-sealed murciélago, now he really noticed the changes. His hollow hole was gone as was his half helmet mask, it felt strange. His four tattoo had been replaced with what appeared to be a six pointed flower like that of the onna's hairpins. The biggest change by far though was that he could feel his heartbeat. He had a heart, and right now it was calling out to him to go to the onna.

Orihime tossed and turned trying to go back to sleep but she couldn't. At least she thought that she couldn't she was watching the corner of her bedroom when she saw him with those piercing green eyes. Those green eyes that looked at her with curiosity and far too much heat. His gaze had a weight to it that she'd never felt from anyone else, as if he could caress her just by glancing at her. And then he spoke to her, "Are you scared of me? Onna." The tears started welling up in her eyes; she'd had this dream many times before. She would answer that she was not afraid of him and reach out to him. He always turned to ash before they could touch. She must have fallen asleep and not realized it. Usually when she had this dream they were standing on the dome of Las Noches again but it didn't really matter, a dream is only a dream. She was so tired of watching him fade away every time.

So this time she decided to do things a little differently. "No, I'm not afraid of you Ulquiorra the only thing I'm afraid of is watching you fade away over and over again. So please can't you let me sleep for once and stop haunting my dreams?" That did it she saw his eyes widen and his eyebrows raise a fraction, the tell tale sign of surprise on Ulquiorra's face. She sat there waiting for dream Ulquiorra to respond to her. Ha-ha take that dream Ulquiorra bet you didn't see that one coming! Score one for Orihime, she silently celebrated her dream self's victory in surprising Ulquiorra.

He almost wanted to smirk at the onna's amusing antics, so she thought this was a dream did she. Along with some amusement this brought other questions to his mind. Did that mean she dreamt of him often? If she did she probably didn't meant to inadvertently let that information slip. Amusement aside he questioned her, "Onna, how can I convince you that you are not dreaming and that I am really standing here in front of you?"Orihime hesitated for all of about thirty seconds before calmly replying "Fine, I guess we'll just go with the usual way." Ulquiorra was confused as to what the "usual" way was but he was trying his best not to let it show on his face. It was then that she lifted her arm out towards him, reaching for him as she had done right before he 'died'.

He hesitated not sure if he should reach for her again or whether he should just continue to let her think she was dreaming. She broke through his thoughts when she so boldly stated, "Come on, you won't be able to touch me anyway you always fade away just before we touch so let's get this over with so that I can try and get some sleep." Now he was just as confused. Did that mean that the onna did not enjoy dreaming of him? He decided to take the onna up on her challenge, eager to see what she would have to say when he did not fade away this time as she predicted he would.

He took a step closer to her and began raising his hand towards hers. He wondered what the onna would have to say when he finally touched her and she realized that she was not in fact dreaming. Slowly he stepped closer to her once more. The moment seemed to drag on forever as if they were both suspended in time waiting for what each thought would happen next. He lightly let his fingers brush against hers as he interlaced his fingers with hers. It was enough to send a flash of heat straight to his core. She gasped out his name. "Ulquiorra?"

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**AN: I know a cliffhanger. Hope you all enjoy let me know what you think please. Thanks for all of the support and reviews. By the way "onna" means woman in Japanese if anyone didn't know. **


	3. Truth is Stranger than Fiction

**AN: Well kids I hope you like the third chapter of "Tears Like the Rain" It's a bit longer than the last two. Originally chapter 2 and this one were all one chapter but I decided to end chapter two where I did for the suspense. I hope it worked and kept you all in suspense like I planned. On with the show!**

**DISCLAIMER: You all know that I don't own Bleach. If I did Ulquiorra would've never left and/or already returned by now. ****

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He lightly let his fingers brush against hers as he interlaced his fingers with hers. It was enough to send a flash of heat straight to his core. She gasped out his name. "Ulquiorra?" She felt it too it seems judging from the way she instantly jerked her hand back from him. He almost wanted to smile at her reaction; she sat stunned into silence, holding her hand as if his touch had burned her. Maybe it had, hers had certainly felt like it burned him in a very pleasant kind of way.

The next thing he knew the woman had scrambled from beneath the covers and leapt into his arms and was sobbing his name. She had moved so fast that if he didn't know better he would've sworn that she used sonido to get there. He wasn't quite sure what to do now. She had just recoiled at the slightest brush of his fingers, yet now she was clinging to him as if her life depended on it. Weighing his options, his arms slowly circled around her waist, his hands coming to rest on her lower back. He wasn't really used to comforting people but this seemed like something he'd witnessed humans do to comfort one another. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do next though, he was still holding her but she was still crying desperately into his neck. Perhaps he should say something to her to get her to stop.

He never intended for his presence to upset her like it had. "Onna, if my presence here upsets you this much, perhaps I should not have come and I will leave now if that is what you wish." What occurred next left him even more confused. Orihime seemed to finally register what he had just said and her tears finally started to slow. She pulled away from him slowly but not entirely. He waited for her to say something, but instead of speaking he felt as his head twisted to the right and his cheek actually stung from the force of the slap she gave him. Talk about déjà vu. Now he was starting to get annoyed, he had even more questions and less answers than he did a moment ago.

Had the onna completely lost her mind? He started to speak as though trying to calm himself as he turned to face her again. "Onna, have you lost" the rest of what he was about to say was cut off by Orihime's lips crashing into his. His eyes widened in shock as he looked at her not daring to move. She had her arms around his neck and her left hand was entangled in his hair and her eyes were closed. Just as he closed his eyes and was about to lose himself and respond to her kiss she pulled away. This was getting ridiculous. He was usually good at reading people, granted he had never been able to understand the onna, but this was insanity. Her moods were shifting from one thing to the next so quickly he was starting to get dizzy.

"How can you say something like that? I just got you back! I don't know if this is a dream or not anymore but if it is I never want to wake up. I'm sorry for slapping you…again and for kissing you like that." As she was yelling at him she could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks from embarrassment, finally realizing what she had just done. She started getting nervous and began trying to explain what she had just done. For his benefit or hers she wasn't sure yet, she just knew that her brain had finally caught up the situation and she had to do something. "I know you don't like stuff like that, I don't know what came over me. I guess I've just thought about and dreamt about what it would be like to kiss you so much that I figured this might be my only chance so I took it." She laughed nervously she was rambling and she knew it was because she was embarrassed for having kissed him and then admitting that she dreamt of kissing him. She was so red she would have made a tomato jealous.

He found her antics amusing but at the same time she had awakened a fire in him. He knew of no better way to stop her rambling then to kiss her again so he did. As his lips crashed into hers it was her turn to be shocked. She couldn't believe it; it had to be a dream. A very vivid and lifelike dream but a dream nonetheless. Ulquiorra had come back from ashes and he was kissing her. Fortunately for her, her body responded before her brain caught up. She closed her eyes and leaned into his kiss bringing her arms up to wrap around his neck. She felt his tongue slide across her lower lip asking her for entrance. Which she immediately gave parting her lips so that his tongue could dance inside.

Her first, well technically her second kiss was so much better than anything she'd ever dreamed of. Though he was gentle it was also very passionate. He tasted like temptation and danger, his kiss so much more than anything she'd ever experienced in her life. She moaned with the sweetness of his kiss as he pulled her closer to himself. She'd never felt this needy, this close to falling over the edge of something from only touch and taste. He broke apart from her leaving her panting for air and trying to catch her breath, and relaxed his hold on her a bit.

She stared at him with wonder in her eyes. She really was beautiful in the moonlight. "Are you done rambling now onna?" She was totally speechless so he figured that was a yes so he continued with what he had to say. "First, I would not have even mentioned leaving had it not been for the "mixed signals" as you humans call it, you were giving me. You recoiled from me as if I'd burned you, then you are clinging to me as if you're life depended on it, then you slapped me, again, and then you kissed me. What exactly am I supposed to think you wanted me to do?" He was surprised at the amount of control he had over his own voice at that moment, but it still sounded harsh to his ears compared to his usual monotone.

Her eyes started to well with tears and she started apologizing, "I'm sorry, I just …I wasn't sure any of this was real." He instantly regretted being so harsh with her. He brought his hand up to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Stop crying onna, please stop crying" Her tears started to slow and she realized that he had just said please to her and was attempting to comfort her. "I'm still not sure this isn't a dream you're not really acting like yourself you know. You just said please to me and you kissed me and you haven't even explained to me how it is you got here. I watched you die Ulquiorra, I watched you turn to ash in front of me. I've had nightmares of that day for the last year. How can you really be here?" He stood there contemplating what she had just said to him.

"I'm not entirely sure how this is possible either onna, I haven't really given it much thought until now. It seems something has brought me back albeit a little different from how I was before." "What do you mean different?" It was then that she took the time to really look at him, as all the air left her lungs, she hadn't even noticed it until now. He looked the same only his helmet was missing. "Your mask, what happened to it?" She absent mindedly ran her fingers through his hair where his mask used to be. He reached up to the zipper on his uniform and began to pull it down. She started blushing furiously and tried to turn away but he caught her chin gently and held her gaze. "Look onna." When she looked down she couldn't believe her eyes.

She must really be dreaming. "Your hole, it's gone!" the surprise evident in her voice. He grabbed her hand and slowly started to bring it up to his chest. She turned a very bright shade of scarlet and tried to pull away but he wouldn't let her. Placing her hand on his chest, just below where his hole used to be, he kept his eyes on her face and his hand over hers so she could not pull away. She was blushing like a mad woman now but Ulquiorra wouldn't let her go, her mind was racing, this was going way too fast. It was then she felt it. Thump-thump, Thump-thump. His heart. Her face went pale and her eyes widened in shock, her mouth gaped like a fish. She had no words to describe what it was that she was thinking and feeling right now.

"Do you feel it onna?"

"Yes, but how is this possible?"

He pulled his jacked aside to show her his tattoo. Only the gothic four that used to be there was replaced with one the shape of her hairpins. Her mind was reeling. "Ulquiorra, what does this mean? How is this possible? I tried to bring you back that day but I couldn't, I failed you. So how? Why now? I don't understand how this could have happened a year later?" Her mind was reeling with the possibilities. She had tried her best to bring him back that day and failed, which is something that caused her great anguish in the last year. Yet, here he was, holding her, kissing her, he even had a heartbeat. Maybe, he really did find his heart that day, but then why wasn't she able to bring him back then?

"I do not know onna, all I know is that my consciousness has been stirring for some time now and when I was finally able to completely regenerate my body, this is the result. After that I came straight here to you." He stated in his usual monotone, staring into her eyes that glistened with unshed tears. Orihime smiled and started blushing again so that she had to look away and turned her face away to hide. She just realized what he said, even he didn't realize how incredibly cheesy and romantic what he said was, she did. He had come straight to her without thinking of anything else. It touched her heart. Heart. She could still feel Ulquiorra's heartbeat where her hand still rested on his chest even though he had removed his hand so that she could pull away now if she wanted to.

She stepped closer to him and moved her arms around his neck once again and rested her ear against his chest so she could listen to his heartbeat. "Why did you come here so quickly to see me Ulquiorra?" She asked him shyly. She didn't want to get her hopes up, even though he'd kissed her that didn't mean that he would be sticking around. She wasn't sure what the kiss had meant, but there was more than one emotion in it that was for sure. She wanted him to stay and not disappear like before, but did he want that?

He put his arms around her waist again and held her close. She didn't miss how his heartbeat kicked up a notch as he did so and she smiled. As far as things went although he still hadn't answered her question yet she took that as a good sign. "Onna I don't know how to answer that. The best way that I can describe it would be to say that as soon as I awoke that that's what my heart told me to do, so I followed it here to you as soon as I was able." He tried to keep his voice level when saying all that but it wavered with newfound emotion some and Orihime picked up on it. He wasn't really sure what any of this meant. He definitely could feel more emotions now than he ever could before and it was a strange but not unpleasant feeling.

"Are you going to fade away again?" She asked him worry starting to crease her brow. She tightened her hold around his neck willing him not to disappear again. She didn't think he was going to answer which in and of itself would be an answer in her mind and her eyes started to tear again. Then he spoke his voice calmly reassuring her as best he could "I do not know onna, but I'd say that at least for now that does not seem likely." She sighed in relief, but then a whole new set of worries entered her mind.

"Did you plan on kidnapping me again and taking me back to Las Noches with you?" She didn't want to leave her friends again but she couldn't bear to be without him again so she would go if that's what it took to keep him by her side.

He wasn't quite sure where she was going with this new line of questioning. Honestly he hadn't thought that far ahead which was unusual for him admittedly. So now that he thought about it, what was his plan? He did not wish to cause the onna pain and she would most likely not enjoy being kidnapped, as she put it, again. Returning to Hueco Mundo alone, now that she was in his arms seemed like an impossible task as well. Very well he would just have to let the onna decide what she wanted him to do. "I had not made any plans before coming here onna. I do not imagine that you would enjoy being 'kidnapped' again so I will do whatever it is that you wish me to do."

He heart nearly stopped, she had almost resigned herself to a life in Hueco Mundo a moment ago and now he just told her that he would do whatever she wanted. "What if I wish for you to stay here with me?" She waited with baited breath for his answer, hoping he would say yes.

He thought about that, he didn't belong here in the human world. He was different, hollow, but yet he wasn't anymore. He honestly didn't know what he was now, his helmet and hole were gone now, but he still had his powers so what did that make him? Did that mean he was more like the shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki? No, he was still different than that trash, and he didn't really think he belonged here. Then again, there was nothing for him now in Las Noches or in Hueco Mundo without the onna there. As far as he knew Lord Aizen was gone, and so were the other espada, not that if they were still alive that would make him stay, in fact it was more likely the opposite. Deciding what to do for now, he could tell the onna was trying not to cry waiting for his answer.

"If that is your wish onna, I will stay in the human world for now. There is nothing I need to return to in Hueco Mundo. Though I don't think your friends or the Soul Society for that matter will be very happy about this onna."

Her breath caught in her throat, he just said that he would stay. She almost jumped for joy. "We can worry about that later, we'll go talk to Kisuke Urahara in the morning and see if he will make you a gigai and maybe he can tell us how all this happened and how you've changed." She knew that convincing Urahara would be easy, the scientist in him wouldn't be able to refuse a chance to study what was going on with Ulquiorra. Her friends however might be a different story.

As if he could read her mind at the moment he calmly asked her, "Are you sure you wish for me to stay with you onna? I thought you were in love with Ichigo Kurosaki, he will most definitely not be happy about that." She didn't miss the bitter note his voice took on when he mentioned her feelings for Ichigo. What made him bring up Ichigo like that in the first place? After returning from Hueco Mundo she couldn't look at Ichigo the same way anymore. She knew he didn't care about her like that, she had always known. After she realized too late that she had feelings for Ulquiorra and that Ichigo was in love with Rukia she had moved on. She no longer felt that way about Ichigo; in fact she wasn't sure it was ever more than a high school crush.

"I'm not in love with Ichigo, he's just my friend. I had feelings for him once yes, but I know now that it was never real love so I let it go and I don't care if Ichigo gets mad or not I'll deal with him if I have to because I want you to stay!" She yawned after saying all that, she was so exhausted from so many nights of not getting any sleep and having nightmares from the day Ulquiorra left her.

He could tell she was tired and needed to sleep, so he decided not to argue the matter further. "As you wish onna, we can discuss this again when you've rested some." Despite being tired and almost falling asleep standing up she tried to pretend that she wasn't. "Hmm, I'm not tired." She pouted.

Despite the words coming out of her mouth he could tell she was. She was falling asleep standing there with him. He picked her up suddenly and carried her bridal style back to her bed. "Ahh Ulquiorra put me down, I must be heavy." She shrieked if she wasn't awake before she was now, how embarrassing.

"Nonsense onna"

He set her down on her bed and began tucking her in and turned to leave when she caught his arm and stopped him. "Where are you going, you said you'd stay with me?" Panic started creeping into her voice, what if she went to sleep and when she woke up he was gone.

He could see the panic in her face. "I'll be here when you wake up onna, I'm just going to the chair in the corner." Her eyes started to tear up again, she couldn't let him go. She was terrified of this all still being a dream.

"Come lay here with me Ulquiorra, I'm afraid that you'll disappear if I let you go."

He thought about arguing with the onna but with the way she was looking at him he decided it was best just to let her have her way. He didn't really want to deny her anyway, she could ask him to do anything she wanted and he would comply. He walked back over to the bed and she moved over knowing that she had won. He laid down next to her on his back and as soon as he did she cuddled up next to him with her head on his chest so she could listen to his heartbeat.

"Do you know what _it_is now Ulquiorra?"

"Do I know what _what_is onna?"

"The heart."

He had always known what the organ was. He had ripped it from numerous foes chests before but he didn't think that's what she was really asking him about. She wanted to know if he finally understood the feelings associated with the heart she spoke of so long ago in Las Noches. "Not yet onna, but I believe I understand more now than I did then. However, I still have much to learn about this heart." His answer made her cuddle even closer to him if that was even possible and smile. "I'll teach you, I promise."

He couldn't help but find the onna to be amazing. Not only did she apparently not hate him, which by all accounts she should, but she wanted him to stay with her and to teach him about hearts. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders he pulled her close and placed a kiss on her head. "Sleep now onna, tomorrow we shall go see Kisuke Urahara." She felt so safe and comfortable in his arms. She felt protected from everything.

"Goodnight Ulquiorra."

"Goodnight onna."

And with that Orihime drifted off into a dreamless sleep for once with a smile on her face. Ulquiorra had never needed sleep before but as he lay there holding the onna in a way he never imagined he would, and thought about all the strange series of events that led him here, his eyelids became heavy and he too drifted off to sleep holding the onna in his arms.

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**AN: Whew done with chapter 3. Hope you all liked it. It's a bit longer than the other ones this time. Let me know what you think please and review. **

**Next Chapter: They go to visit Urahara and find out what's happened to Ulquiorra….**


	4. I Gave You My Heart

**A/N: Aww you guys are awesome. You make me want to keep writing and upload new chapters. Hope you all enjoy the new chapter. **

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly I do not own Bleach. I really wish I did though, or maybe just Ulquiorra and Orihime so I could really make them do what I want. Hehe.**

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She woke up and could still remember her dream last night. This one was different than all the others. Ulquiorra didn't fade away and he actually held her and even kissed her. Such a nice dream, she didn't know how she finally got such a good night's sleep when her pillow was rock hard, and had a heartbeat. Slowly she decided to open her eyes and freaked out once she did, "Gah, oh my god it wasn't a dream, he's still here!" "Oh I hope I didn't wake him up." She couldn't believe it, he was still here, she could still touch him, could still feel his heartbeat beneath her fingertips.

He looked so peaceful in his sleep. His eyes were still closed and his face looked so relaxed. He wasn't frowning for once, but he wasn't smiling either. The way the little bit of sunlight came through the window and landed on his face gave his skin an ethereal quality. She had always wanted to touch the teal lines running down his face, she had been curious about them from the first time she saw him. She moved her hand to his face and traced the line on the right side of his face all the way down. She tried to be as gentle as she could she didn't want to wake him up. She did the same thing to the other side of his face. It was so strange, his skin was so soft and his tear tracks seemed colder than the rest of his face. Almost as if he had cried until all the color left his eyes and his tears froze there. That couldn't be though; his eyes still had plenty of color that was for sure. She brought her index finger down to his mouth now; running it over his lips, the same lips that last night had kissed her so passionately.

He awoke the second she screamed this morning, but luckily he was able to keep his body from betraying him. The truth is he was curious as to what she would say and do if she thought he was still asleep. It was ridiculous really, but he couldn't help his curiosity about a number of things whenever he was around the onna. Never before had he felt such an interest in everything another being said and did, only with her. She always made him wonder.

He almost gave himself away when she started touching him. What was the onna thinking? Her hands were so gentle as they traced the lines of his face and his lips. Never before had he been touched like this, he let the onna get away with whatever she wanted. Until last night he had never touched nor been touched with any kind of tenderness. Every other time someone had touched him it had been in battle and usually was meant to inflict some kind of pain. Not that he minded her touch, not at all, he actually enjoyed it. He probably enjoyed it too much though; he should stop the onna before this situation had a chance to become embarrassing for the both of them. He could already feel other parts of his body that she wasn't even touching responding to her. He needed to stop her before it got any worse.

"What are you doing onna?"

"Eek, when did you wake up?"

He startled her and she jerked her hand back, her cheeks turning red again. She had gotten lost in a daydream about him and he had apparently woken up. She didn't know when exactly he had woken up though. How would he feel if he knew that she was fondling him in his sleep? Oh this was so embarrassing.

He noticed the blush on her cheeks immediately. He was glad he could make the onna blush like that. She seemed extremely uncomfortable at the moment trying to figure out how much of what she did he knew about. He could either tell her he just woke up or he could play with her a bit and tease her about it. He decided on the latter and keeping all amusement out of his voice he asked her, "I believe I asked you a question first onna, what exactly were you doing?"

"Oh nothing you know, just stretching, you know I stretch every morning when I wake up ha ha" she was hoping that he bought her cheesy excuse for touching him. She knew it was lame but it was the best her frazzled brain could come up with at the moment. She couldn't look at him; she was scared to see his face at the moment. She was pretty sure that he didn't buy it, who would. Way to go Orihime now he won't ever sleep next to you again out of fear that you're going to molest him or something.

As entertaining as the onna's antics were he could tell she was extremely uncomfortable having been caught. He toyed with the idea of teasing her some more but chose not to. "I see, in that case later today I shall teach you a much more effective way of stretching after we see Kisuke Urahara." He didn't want to make the onna uncomfortable even if she did bring it on herself. Even so it was very difficult to say that without smirking. For some reason he almost always wanted to smile around the onna.

"Eh, uhm okay yeah that'd be great." Finally able to look up at his face again she couldn't believe that he actually bought it. Whew, close one Orihime. She made a mental note to not get busted again or come up with some better excuses for next time. If Ulquiorra was really going to teach her some stretches though she definitely couldn't use that lame excuse again. She decided she would also have to come up with some excuses to kiss him again. Just thinking about it she got lost in a daydream about him kissing her.

He could tell her brain had run away with her again. Whenever she got lost in thought or was daydreaming about some ridiculousness her eyes would glaze over and she looked like she was far away. He'd first noticed this unusual habit of hers while he was watching over her in Hueco Mundo. It always amazed him how the onna could be in the middle of a conversation with someone and either she or they would say something that caused the onna's brain to run away with her on some daydream. He wondered what was said this morning that caused it, or maybe it was something that the onna had been thinking but wouldn't say. The only way to know really would be to ask her.

Raising himself up on his forearm her leaned over to her ear and whispered "What are you daydreaming about onna?" His proximity and his voice broke through her daydream and she nearly jumped away from him. Luckily he still had his other arm around her waist so she couldn't go too far. She turned a nice shade of scarlet when she realized she had been busted again. She didn't even get to come up with any good excuses yet, damn. "Oh nothing," she replied hoping he wouldn't press the issue.

He watched her face intently for some clue as to what she had been thinking about. The onna it seemed wasn't very good at hiding her thoughts because as she told him she wasn't thinking about anything she was staring at his mouth and she licked her lips. It was then that he figured out what she had been thinking and it made his heart beat faster. So the onna was daydreaming about kissing him again was she? Very well he would give her what she wanted but not without letting her know that she had been busted. "Really, you weren't daydreaming about anything at all just now? Do not lie to me onna."

Damn, he knew she had been thinking of something. What should she say? Luckily she didn't have to say anything he pushed her so she was flat on her back on the bed and he was leaning over her trapping her between his arms. Her eyes went wide with shock, "What are you doing Ulquiorra?" He leaned in so that his lips were barely touching hers their faces centimeters apart, not a kiss, not yet anyway. He kept his eyes focused on hers and said "If you want me to kiss you again onna, just say so." He watched her shocked face but she didn't pull away she couldn't even if she tried he had left her nowhere to go.

Damn him so he knew what she had been thinking all along. That is so unfair. At least now she didn't have to come up with an excuse. She leaned up so that she could finally kiss him but he pulled away maintaining the distance he had set and kept looking straight into her eyes. He was going to make her say that she wanted him to kiss her, she tried again to capture his lips but he moved again. How embarrassing, she would have to ask to get what she wanted.

"Ulquiorra?"

"Hmm"

"Kiss me."

"As you wish onna."

Finally closing the distance between them, he kissed her. His lips were gentle yet firm as he locked lips with her. He gently sucked on her bottom lip before parting her lips with his own, to slide his tongue into her mouth. Her mouth felt like silk and caused a fire to stir in him the likes of which he had never felt before. She brought her arms up around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair pulling him closer as she did. His left arm moved down to her waist and he pulled her closer so that her body was flush against his. So much for stopping before his predicament got any worse.

As their tongues danced with each other everything else in the world faded away until it was just them and this moment. He took the opportunity to slip his hand just barely under her shirt in order to feel her skin against his. She gasped breaking away from his kiss to breathe and opening her eyes to meet his emerald green ones. Neither of them moved away from the other. She closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss him again. It wasn't enough, she wanted more. He lit a fire in her soul that threatened to consume her if she didn't keep kissing and touching him.

It was then that a deep voice made a loud coughing noise from the door to her bedroom and they broke apart quickly. Ulquiorra had turned towards where the sound came from charging a cero, ready to blast whoever had disturbed them into the next dimension. Orihime grabbed his arm and stopped him before he could fire it. There was a small black cat sitting in the doorway to her bedroom. "If you two are finished Kisuke would like to see both of you at the store, now." From the tone in her voice Orihime could tell that Yoruichi wasn't making a request.

Orihime was extremely embarrassed at having been caught making out with Ulquiorra on her bed and had turned beet red. "Yes Yoruichi, we were actually on our way there anyway this morning." Ulquiorra for his part didn't say anything but he gave the cat a glare that could freeze your bones. Yoruichi then turned and said that she would be waiting for them in the living room and that they had better hurry up she didn't want to have to come back in here to get them again.

To say that Ulquiorra was pissed at the interruption would be an understatement, but seeing as how it wasn't the woman's fault he decided not to make a big deal about it. The mood had already been ruined and whatever spell the two of them had been under had broken. He turned back to the onna who was hiding her face in her hands and muttering some nonsense about black cats being bad luck. He pulled her hands from her face and looked down at her capturing her eyes with his own and leaned down to her ear and whispered, "We shall continue this later onna." He then pulled away and placed a chaste and quick kiss on her lips before getting out of the bed and zipping up his jacket and going in the living room to let the onna finish getting ready.

Once Orihime was ready the three of them left her apartment and headed toward Urahara's shop. Thankfully the shop wasn't far from where she lived because an awkward silence hung in the air as they walked. Orihime was so embarrassed at having been caught she could barely look at either one of them. Yoruichi hadn't said a word to either of them since going to the living room to wait for them but she was walking to where she could keep an eye on the former espada. Ulquiorra however, was his usual stoic and stone faced self, not seeming bothered by anything. Sometimes Orihime wished she could be like that, she always wore her emotions to where the whole world could see them, but in situations like this she envied Ulquiorra's poker face.

Finally arriving at the shop Yoruichi told them to have a seat in the living room and Urahara would be out soon to talk to them. They sat there in awkward silence waiting for Urahara to come in until Orihime couldn't take it anymore she had to say something. "I'm sorry." Ulquiorra glanced at her and replied, "For what onna, you have nothing to be sorry for." She gave him a small smile, glad that he wasn't mad at her for this morning. He leaned over to her and gave her a small kiss on the cheek to reassure her that he was not angry at her for the interruption this morning. The fact was he was actually glad that the cat had interrupted them, because he wasn't sure he would've been able to stop if it were up to him and he didn't want to pressure the onna into something she wasn't ready for.

It was then that Urahara decided to come out and join them popping open his trademark fan. "Well well, what do we have here I do believe you are an espada aren't you?" Ulquiorra studied the man carefully before answering; he knew who Kisuke Urahara was he had met him already twice when he was working under Lord Aizen. "Former espada number four, Ulquiorra Cifer." Urahara was quick to realize that Ulquiorra's mask was gone. "There's something different about you than the last time we met isn't there, our encounter was brief but something seems like its missing. Your mask perhaps, what happened to it?" Ulquiorra sighed and calmly responded to him, "The onna and I were on our way to see you this morning to ask if you could tell us what happened to it."

Orihime saw this as an opportunity to jump in since it didn't look like Ulquiorra was going to share any more information with Urahara then he had to, "His hollow hole is missing too and…" She hesitated not sure if she should mention his heart or not, she glanced at Ulquiorra hoping he would give her some sign to continue. He met her eyes and nodded for her to continue. "He also has a heart now, I felt his heartbeat." She looked down blushing a little from the last part." Kisuke eyed the both of them for a moment quickly hiding his shock at all this. "Oh my, well that is unheard of, how is it that I can help you?" Ulquiorra noticed the excitement in his voice and eyed him suspiciously not sure if he really wanted this scientist poking and prodding him to figure out what happened to him.

Orihime was quick to answer for him though, "We were hoping that you could make him a gigai so he can stay here in the world of the living, and maybe you could tell us how this happened." The shopkeeper's eyes lit up as he replied "Oh I'd be delighted to assist you in figuring out this mystery thank you for asking. As for the gigai I'm sure that can be arranged. Come on down to my workshop and let's have a look at you shall we?" With that he stood and motioned for Ulquiorra to follow him. They both started to follow him when Urahara said that he'd need to take some measurements for the gigai and suggested that it would be better for her to remain here until he was done. Frowning she reluctantly agreed and turned to sit back down just as Yoruichi now in her human form returned to the room to keep her company.

Ulquiorra followed Kisuke Urahara to the underground training room which had a room off to the side of it that looked like a medical laboratory. Urahara examined him and took samples of everything from his blood to his hair and skin, and took measurements of everything before he told Ulquiorra he could go back upstairs and wait with Orihime and he would be up in a little while after he modified a gigai for him. Ulquiorra was fine with that seeing as how he was tired of getting poked and prodded by the mad scientist anyway.

While Ulquiorra was busy downstairs Yoruichi decided that it would be a good time to have a little girl talk with Orihime. "So Orihime, how have you been? I haven't seen you much lately." Orihime felt the awkwardness of the situation but couldn't really do anything about what had already happened. She giggled nervously and did her best to answer the question honestly, "Well to be honest I've been having nightmares, and I've been really depressed for a while now."

"Oh really, do you want to talk about it."

"Well not really, but I suppose I should. Ever since I came back from Hueco Mundo I've had nightmares of how Ulquiorra died and I wasn't able to do anything. I tried healing him but it didn't work and he turned to ash right in front of me. After he died I realized that during my time there I grew to have feelings for him. Just before he died he mentioned something about finally finding his heart and I realized that I didn't want to lose him, but it was too late. Ever since then I've had nightmares of that day always wishing I could touch him or save him but in my dreams I was never able to. It felt like I had given him my heart that day and it died with him. I felt so empty and I used to wonder a lot if that was what it felt like to be a hollow. Even my friends noticed, Ichigo and the others tried to ask me about it but I just couldn't tell them all that. I didn't want them to worry about me, so I tried my best to cover up my sadness with fake smiles and laughter, but I guess I didn't do a very good job because they still knew something was wrong."

She had been trying to hold the tears back for some time but at that point they started to fall, "Oh Yoruichi, I don't know what to do. I don't even understand how this is possible but I'm so glad he's back. Last night I was crying over him again watching the rain and somehow he came back and when he did he came to find me. I'm sure that he really did find his heart that day, last night I got to feel it. I feel like the part of me that has been missing since that day has finally returned. I just don't know how Ichigo and the others will react to all of this. I don't want him and Ulquiorra to fight again because I'm scared I'll lose him again. I know they aren't going to like the fact that he's back though. What should I do?"

Yoruichi listened to everything she had to say and regarded her carefully. "Dry your tears Orihime. It doesn't seem like he's here to hurt anyone and he obviously cares for you too at least from what I saw this morning anyway." Yoruichi winked at her and nudged her on the shoulder making Orihime stop crying and laugh. "If you want him to stay here and he's willing to stay here for you and protect you that means he's ok in my book. If Ichigo doesn't like it, who cares what he thinks, he'll see how happy you are now that he's back and he'll eventually learn to deal with it." Orihime was thinking about what Yoruichi had said to her and it really did make her feel better now. She had stopped crying just in time because Ulquiorra came walking back into the room. Yoruichi got up to leave the two of them alone saying something about going to check on Kisuke.

Their time alone however, was short lived as a very familiar spiritual pressure came bursting through the front door making the two of them jump to their feet. Ichigo was already in his bankai when he came in the door, as soon as he spotted who he was looking for he shouted at Ulquiorra, "What the hell are you doing here? Get the hell away from Orihime." Ulquiorra calmly regarded Ichigo before replying "No." If Ichigo wasn't mad a second ago he sure was now. "Get the hell away from her before I make you." Orihime was frantic she tried telling Ichigo to calm down but he wouldn't listen to her. He took a swing with his zanpaktou at Ulquiorra but before it connected it was stopped by a familiar orange shield. "Why the hell are you protecting him Orihime? He kidnapped you and held you prisoner. Give me one good reason I shouldn't just kill this guy?"

Orihime wasn't sure what to say, Ichigo didn't look like he was going to calm down no matter what she said, and besides that Ichigo had never yelled at her like that. She couldn't believe her ears. Luckily Urahara showed up to answer Ichigo's question so that she didn't have to.

"Well Ichigo I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Oh yeah, why's that?"

"Because you most likely would end up killing Orihime too. It seems our little Orihime, quite literally gave him part of her heart a year ago."

Everybody's attention was now focused on the scientist, and a collective "WHAT?" was heard from everyone in the room.

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**A/N: Ok another chapter finished. Let me know what you all think please and review. When I get reviews it makes me want that much harder to finish another chapter for you guys. You are my inspiration. Poor Ulqui-chan and Orihime getting interrupted like that how rude! :(**


	5. You Followed It Back To Me

**A/N: Suffering from a little bit of writer's block on this. Hope you all enjoy anyway. **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bleach; if I did it would most likely be too naughty to air on television, at least here in the U.S. Hehe **

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"Because you most likely would end up killing Orihime too. It seems our little Orihime, quite literally gave him part of her heart a year ago."

Everybody's attention was now focused on the scientist, and a collective "WHAT?" was heard from everyone in the room.

The scientist just kept grinning and went on to say, "Well if you'll all sit down and stop fighting I'll see if I can explain it to you." Ichigo didn't really look like he wanted to put his sword away but what else could he do; he didn't want to hurt Orihime so it seemed he would have to listen to Urahara's explanation. Now that Ichigo had stopped threatening Ulquiorra for the moment anyway, she realized that he hadn't come here alone. All of her friends were there, Uryuu, Chad, Rukia, Renji, even Tatsuki had come with them and they wore an expression of shock on their faces at what Urahara had just said.

Following Urahara to a room where they had more space to talk they all sat down around a large table. Urahara and Yoruichi were at the head of the table, Orihime and Ulquiorra were on one side and her friends it seemed were facing off against them on the other side. You could cut the tension in the air with a butter knife it was so thick. Orihime was feeling uncomfortable in the awkward situation and moved closer to Ulquiorra grasping his arm. Her friends were quick to notice this which earned them quite a few more glares than they were already getting.

Once everybody had settled down around the table Urahara cleared his throat and began to explain. "Well as I said earlier, it seems our little Orihime actually gave him her heart or rather a part of it a year ago. " Ichigo shifted his glare to the scientist and asked the question "How is that even possible? If she did that then how is it she isn't dead or something and why wouldn't he still be dead anyway?" Urahara focused his icy glare on Ichigo and no one missed the tone his voice took on as he continued, "Well if you'd let me finish explaining, I'll answer some of your questions. " Ichigo looked like he wanted to say something else but decided against it. He knew better than to piss off the scientist.

"As I was saying, I analyzed Ulquiorra's new heart and found that it has the exact same spiritual signature as Orihime's. Our bodies are naturally imbued with our own particular spiritual pressure, meaning that each of our body parts is separately identifiable and unique to us with our own spiritual signature, kind of like DNA. In analyzing Ulquiorra's new heart I discovered that it most definitely once belonged to Orihime. I wasn't able to uncover the specifics of how this happened before you decided to bust into my store Ichigo. I have a couple of theory's about it though and if I had to guess right now I would say that it had something to do with Orihime's powers of rejection, whose only limit is her own willpower, and it probably happened just before he died or possibly when she tried to heal him afterwards it's really difficult to say which at this point."

Urahara glanced around the room to make sure they were all still following what he was saying. He tried to keep it as simple as possible so that Ichigo could understand it. No one said a word and they all were still focused on him so he figured he hadn't lost anyone yet and decided to continue.

"As you all know hollows are beings that have lost their hearts, but because Orihime shared hers with Ulquiorra and he now has a heart, he's not technically hollow anymore which is why his hole and his mask are gone. Since he retained his powers and has a heart I'd venture to say he is more like a human now. Well that is to say as human as some of the rest of you with spiritual powers. I'm sorry but I really can't tell you anything else about the specifics until I finish analyzing all the data which could take some time. After all it's not as though this kind of thing happens every day, am I right? Other than that I have your gigai ready for you Ulquiorra and I will contact you when I have new information to tell you. Welcome to the world of the living."

Ichigo immediately jumped from his chair. "Wait a minute you can't be serious about letting him stay here. Where is he going to stay? I understand I can't kill him because it might hurt Orihime too but why can't he just go back to Hueco Mundo or something?" Urahara really had no reaction to Ichigo's antics having been around the hot headed boy enough to know not to react it would only encourage him further. "Well maybe you didn't understand what I just said Ichigo, but Ulquiorra is as human as you are now, we can't send a living soul to Hueco Mundo. Even if he is the most powerful person there the hollows would just keep coming after him like moths to the flame. As for where he will stay I'm assuming, but please correct me if I'm wrong Orihime, that you would like him to stay with you, am I right?"

Everyone's focus shifted back to Orihime, it felt like her face was on fire, why did Urahara have to put her on the spot like that. She was about to answer but never got the chance as Ichigo had another fit over what Urahara had just said. "Oh hell no, Orihime he kidnapped you and made you look like a traitor and held you prisoner. There's no way I'm letting him stay anywhere near you." Urahara snapped open his fan and replied, "I really don't think that's your decision to make Ichigo, its Orihime's. Besides where do you think he stayed last night before making his way here this morning?" Now her cheeks were really red. Why did he have to go and announce that, her face felt so hot she thought she might start shooting steam out of her ears at any moment. All of her friends were gaping at her like fish again.

Ichigo looked at her; she had never seen such intensity in his eyes before at least not directed at her. The intensity in his eyes though wasn't in a good way, he looked like he was about to explode. Why couldn't they understand that Ulquiorra wouldn't do anything to hurt her and that she was happy he was back.

Ulquiorra looked over to her their eyes meeting; he was still standing there and hadn't said a word. He was waiting for her to say what she wanted. Looking into his eyes always gave her a strange kind of courage and confidence that she normally didn't display. Even back in Hueco Mundo she had been that way around him. This time was no different she tore her gaze away from his emerald orbs and looked at all her friends. She squared her shoulders, held her head up high and made sure to look every one of them in the eye as she replied to them. "Ulquiorra will be staying with me and that's final. I don't expect you to understand, but I know in my heart that he would never do anything to hurt me and I'm happy that he's back." She gently squeezed his hand when she mentioned her heart. He returned the gesture gently caressing her hand with his thumb.

He had seen her strength in Hueco Mundo. She had always had a strong spirit. From the moment he met her she had been this way around him; it was one of the things that had first intrigued him about her. Even though he tried to break her spirit, something he deeply regretted doing, she never broke. From what little interactions he had witnessed between her and her friends though, she was almost the opposite with them. She was shy, soft-spoken, quiet and apologetic as if she was afraid to stand up for herself with them because of what they might think of her if she did. However, in this moment he could see the fire and determination in her eyes she had always shown him in Hueco Mundo and it pleased him greatly. She used to defend her friends to him with that fire in her eyes and now it seemed the situation had reversed itself and she was now defending him to her friends. The onna truly never stopped surprising him.

Her friends had apparently noticed this change in her too. This was a side of Orihime that they had never seen before. They weren't sure what to make of it.

Tatsuki looked at her and grinned giving her a thumbs up, indicating she was proud of her for standing up for what she believed in.

Renji shook his head and just shrugged his shoulders and gave her a grin.

Uryuu just looked at the two of them a little sadly, but he knew the moment that he found out that Ulquiorra had returned that Orihime would be happy so he gave her a small smile.

Chad being the quiet one that he is simply studied her for a moment before nodding his head acknowledging her wishes.

Rukia stared at Orihime wide eyed. Looking at the two of them and how Orihime held his hand and how Ulquiorra stroked hers and stood slightly in front of her as though he was ready to protect her at any moment, before smiling at Orihime.

Ichigo continued to stare dumbfounded at the two of them not quite ready to give in yet. She looked directly at him waiting for his response. In all honesty at this moment he could say whatever he wanted but it wouldn't make a difference to her in her decision, but she hoped he would try and understand like the rest of her friends had. He sighed finally losing the staring contest between Orihime and himself as he simply stated "Fine alright I get it, but if he so much as lays a hand on you Orihime I'll beat the living crap out of him."

Orihime broke out into a genuine smile at hearing that and jumped up and grabbed Ulquiorra by the neck hugging him tightly. "Did you hear that Ulquiorra, they said you can stay, are you happy?" Renji saw how Orihime jumped on him and stated under his breath "I don't think it's his hands you have to worry about I think it's the other way around." Even though he said it quietly everyone still heard it and started snickering except for Ichigo who just looked at Renji like he couldn't believe what he just said.

Loosening the onna's hold around his neck he pulled back to look at her giving her a small smirk before he went back to his usual poker face and stated, "Foolish onna, I had no intention of leaving your side anyway." Orihime smiled at him as her cheeks started to glow again with her blush. She had also heard what Renji said and was silently thankful that Yoruichi didn't spill the beans to them about what they had already been caught doing earlier that morning. Yoruichi noticed her looking at her and just smiled and winked at her, letting her know that her secret was safe with her.

Urahara looked around at everyone glad that her friends had given their ok even if they didn't exactly like the situation. "Ok everyone you all know I enjoy your visits but it's starting to get a little cramped in here and I have work to finish. Ulquiorra if you'll just follow me right this way we'll finish fitting you for your gigai. " Ulquiorra lightly squeezed the onna's hand before turning to follow the strange scientist but the onna stopped him. He turned back to her to see why and was met with her lips briefly in a chaste kiss before she pulled away and smiled at him saying that she would be waiting for him up here with Yoruichi. He turned back to follow Urahara but not before making sure he got to see the looks on her friends faces as he left the room.

Once he had left the room Orihime tore her eyes from where he had been a moment ago to look at her friends. When she did she felt her cheeks heat up again like they had before. Honestly she was so excited that he was back and going to stay with her that she had completely forgotten that her friends were still there. They were all gaping at her like fish out of water. Tatsuki and Rukia grabbed Orihime and headed for another room of the store saying that it was time for girl talk. Yoruichi followed after them saying to the men that they needed to find something else to do.

Tatsuki and Rukia pulled Orihime into a sitting room and Yoruichi followed after them closing the door. Once inside they both turned to her and said "spill it Orihime!" She started giggling nervously and insisted that she didn't know what they were talking about. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to spill. Tatsuki and Rukia just looked at each other before Tatsuki looked at her freezing her on the spot with her eyes. "You know what we're talking about, what's the deal with you and that Ulquiorra guy? Uryuu filled me in on all the details of your past on our way over here, but that doesn't explain why you're all kissy faced with him all of a sudden."

She laughed nervously before she remembered everything that had happened last night and this morning. They thought she wasn't going to answer until she looked down at her hands in her lap and began speaking. "It's like I told Yoruichi this morning, ever since he died a year ago, I've felt like something inside of me was broken or missing. It's hard to explain. When I was taken to Hueco Mundo Ulquiorra was the one who was in charge of taking care of me. Sometimes he was cruel to me saying that all of you were going to die and things like that but he never once hurt me physically even after I slapped him one time. I know that he could have if he wanted to he even had permission to do it from Aizen but he never did. We had a lot of conversations about hearts and souls and emotions and I started to notice curiosity in his eyes. Then Ichigo arrived and they fought and Ichigo died and I didn't know what to do so I called out to him for help and his hollow came out. He was like an animal he sliced Ulquiorra almost in half and then hit him with a cero at close range and was still going to do more but Uryuu stopped him. So Ichigo stabbed Uryuu and was going to shoot a cero at him but Ulquiorra jumped up and broke his mask bringing Ichigo back to his senses. They were about to continue fighting when his wing started turning to ash right in front of me. He turned to look at me and said 'right as I was finally growing interested in you people' then he reached out to me and asked if I was scared of him. It was then that I realized in his own way he had been trying to reach out to me all along. I told him I wasn't scared and tried to reach him but just as our fingers were about to touch his arm crumbled away and all I could do was stand there and cry. I felt so useless. After Ichigo left to go help you Rukia I healed Uryuu and then I tried to bring Ulquiorra back but I just couldn't. That day has haunted me ever since then. I finally realized too late that I had feelings for him too but he was gone. I have nightmares about it all the time since I've been back."

By this time the tears had started streaming endlessly down her face but no matter how hard she tried they just wouldn't stop coming. "When you guys asked me the other day what had changed me in Hueco Mundo I just couldn't tell you all that. I thought you would all hate me for falling for the enemy. Later that night I thought I was having another nightmare but Ulquiorra really did come back. He held his hand out to me and I could touch it and feel him he didn't crumble away. Then he showed me that his hole and mask were gone and he let me feel his heartbeat. At that moment I felt like whatever had been broken or missing in me had come back to me I was so happy. I guess if what Kisuke said is really true that explains a lot. I really was missing something, my heart, but Ulquiorra brought it back to me. He said that the second his body regenerated he came straight to me like his heart was calling out to him to come to me. I guess if his heart was once mine maybe it missed me and wanted to see me again. I'm glad that he kept it safe and followed it to my door."

Hear tears had stopped now, and she was smiling thinking about all the wonderful things that had happened in the last 24 hours when she looked up and saw Tatsuki and Rukia holding each other and crying. Which was a big deal because they weren't usually they type to cry, like ever. "Gah what's wrong guys, why are you so upset." They lunged for Orihime squeezing her in between the two of them sobbing "That is so sad and sweet Orihime. We wish we knew all this a year ago to think that you've been dealing with this all on your own we're so sorry." She laughed nervously "No really its ok. I'm fine now that he's back really." The two girls stopped their tears and promised her that they were going to support her relationship with Ulquiorra and try and get to know him better.

Her cheeks were turning red again, "You guys I don't know that were really in a relationship like that yet. I mean there has been some kissing. Some really good and passionate kissing, like the kind I never even knew existed but he hasn't really said anything about being in a relationship yet." They both just looked at her like she was blind or something. "Orihime, he said his heart called for you and he's staying here in the world of the living just to be with you. He's going to be living with you and you obviously have the hots for each other. That sounds like a relationship to me!" Rukia yelled.

Now she was getting nervous, she wondered if Ulquiorra saw it that way. What if he didn't after all he did have a different way of seeing a lot of things. She would have to talk to him later when they were alone to find out his thoughts on the matter before things got any further along. How was she supposed to bring that up in conversation though? Just then Kisuke and Ulquiorra walked into the room to find them. Speak of the devil; she hadn't come up with a smooth way to ask him about their relationship status yet, damn.

Ulquiorra was in his new gigai. To Orihime there were no words to describe how hot he looked now. She thought he looked good before but his gigai gave him a more human appearance. His skin wasn't as ghostly white as before, he was still pale but more of a human pale. He didn't have his tear marks anymore but with his jet black hair and skin tone his eyes still stood out like stars in the sky. She had always thought his eyes were his most striking feature, even the first time she met him which wasn't exactly a pleasant memory, she still remembered his eyes. He was dressed in a pair of loose fitting jeans some black shoes and had on a black button up shirt. She was so used to seeing him in white, but he looked good in black.

She was practically drooling all over herself when she heard Rukia, Tatsuki, and Yoruichi laughing at her which snapped her out of it. Ulquiorra gave her his hand to help her up from where she was sitting on the floor and when he did he leaned closer to her and her breathing hitched in her throat. She could feel his breath on her ear tickling her as he said to her, "I take it you are quite pleased with my human appearance, onna." It wasn't a question he was stating a fact and the three girls behind her started laughing uncontrollably making her turn red with embarrassment yet again.

"Ha ha well yes I guess I am, come on let's get you home so we can get you all moved in." She grabbed his arm and was practically dragging him out the door. Everyone in the shop was laughing hysterically now as Kisuke was waving goodbye to them and called out, "You kids have fun testing out the new gigai and let me know if you have any problems with it." She could still hear the girls laughing inside even after he shut the door.

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**A/N: I was going to keep going with this chapter, but for some reason this just felt like the right place to end it to me. I can't explain it really other than it just felt right. So….you will all have to wait till next chapter to find out what happens when they get back to their apartment. It looks to me like Orihime is going to molest him again haha but I don't know. **

**I tried to add a bit more humor in this chapter to make it a little bit lighter. Of course Orihime still got in her dramatic monologue to the girls at the end. **

**As always I love the support you guys have given me on this. Keep the reviews coming in it brightens my day and makes me put out chapters faster I've been averaging about one a day. I have been neglecting my moving though so the chapters might slow down soon, I have to pack up my whole house like by the end of next week. Sigh. **

**Love you guys until next time.**


	6. Drawings and Dinner

**A/N: Enjoy. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach. I just like to play with its characters once in a while. **

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Orihime was practically dragging him home from Urahara's shop. She was pulling him along like a dog on a leash would do to its master; while Ulquiorra just continued to walk at his normal leisurely pace. He was amused at how the onna was acting. He had a few ideas as to why she might be trying to rush him back to her house. He wondered if she even knew why she was rushing him though.

"Onna, why are you trying to rush us back to your home?"

Orihime stopped tugging at his arm, her cheeks turning red. She hadn't really noticed how much she was hurrying although she definitely should have and when she thought about why she was her cheeks were already burning. What could she say to answer him that didn't sound like she was just going to molest him again? She had completely forgotten her promise to herself to ask him about their relationship status before anything else happened. One look at him in his new gigai, and hearing the sound of his deep sexy voice was all it took to make her hormones go into overdrive and forget about everything else.

He noticed that she had gotten lost in thought once again. He could always tell because she looked as though the world around her just melted away and she would stare off into space. Unlike the goofy faces she would make when she was daydreaming though her face looked like she was pondering the meaning of life or something of similar human importance. Her eyebrows would furrow and she would look deep in thought. He wondered what about his question caused her such deep introspection. Perhaps she really didn't know why she was rushing them.

Waving his hand in front of her face to get her attention she seemed to snap out of it and look up at him. "Onna, are you feeling alright? Is something the matter?" Seeing his concerned face seemed to bring her back to reality somewhat.

"I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"You looked very deep in thought for such a simple question, which leads me to believe that there is something else on your mind onna. What is bothering you?"

She could feel her cheeks starting to glow again slightly. He was always so observant; she should have known that he would catch on to her inner dilemma. She really needed to work on her poker face, so he wouldn't be able to read her so easily. Returning to reality and since he had asked her what was bothering her she figured that this was as good a time as any to ask him about their relationship.

Looking up at him squarely, he could see that the fire had returned in her gaze. "Ulquiorra, what exactly is our relationship status?" He was taken aback for a moment at the onna's question. To be honest he didn't know how to answer her. He knew that in the human world that people especially females took such things as relationships very seriously. He had done his research on humans while taking care of the onna in Hueco Mundo, his research mostly included the relationship status of "friendship" because he was trying to understand the onna's feelings regarding her friends. However, he knew that there were several other types of relationships as well. People who were in love got married to each other. There were also the confusing things he had seen such as 'friends with benefits' which he would never fully understand as well as things like dating and being boyfriend and girlfriend.

He was genuinely surprised at the onna's question not having really thought that much about it before now. He knew the onna took these things seriously though just based on his time with her discussing her friends. He wasn't sure how to answer her in a way that she wouldn't be angry or upset with him. He knew he liked her; he had even entertained the idea of wanting her as his mate if that's what she wanted. Ever since he returned and even before that he knew that he wanted to be with her for as long as she allowed him to be there, as well as anything else she wanted to offer him.

He didn't feel that he had the right to tell her that he wanted to possess her and claim her as his for forever based on their past together. Besides that the onna had apparently already given him her heart to make his own, how could he ask for more than that from her. He would remain here for her for as long as she wanted him to but beyond that if she decided she wanted him to leave he would. He cared too much for her happiness now to cause her any kind of pain. It would break his newborn heart if she ever wanted him to leave but he would do it for her. He settled for asking her, "what would you like it to be onna, I must admit I'm not quite sure what you mean I'm not very well versed in the different types of human relationships."

Of course, how could she have forgotten that Ulquiorra, despite his new human appearance and heart, didn't know anything about human customs and relationships. She felt stupid now for even asking him such a thing. He wouldn't know how to answer that right now, even if he had been human once before she didn't know how long he was a hollow, that is if he even remembered his human life before it could have been centuries ago and things in this day and age would be different anyway. She decided that for him to be able to give her an honest answer she would just have to teach him what she was talking about. This called for some help though.

"Hold on just one second."

The onna pulled out something she referred to as a cell phone and said she was making a phone call whatever that was. He could hear someone talking through the device to the onna before she closed her phone and put it away. She turned to him grasping his hand in hers and interlacing their fingers. "Come on, let's go back to the house and I'll try to explain what I mean." She smiled at him and they continued the short walk back to her apartment.

When they arrived at the apartment the onna unlocked the door and they went inside. A few moments later there was a knock at the door. The onna went to answer and a moment later the petite shinigami, Rukia, entered the apartment behind Orihime. She turned to him and told him to sit on the couch and make himself comfortable and that she'd be right back and then the onna and the shinigami disappeared into her bedroom closing the door behind them.

He could hear their voices discussing something inside the room but he paid it no attention. The onna would tell him what was going on later if he needed to know about it. He did wonder why the shinigami had showed up though, considering they had just seen her at that man Urahara's shop. He figured they were all still suspicious of him and she had come by to check on the onna and make sure he didn't do anything to her. Ridiculous. He couldn't say he really blamed them though given his sorted history with all of them. He saw a bookshelf in the living room and found a book that looked interesting to him and sat down on the couch and began to read.

Since Rukia and Tatsuki had agreed to try and get to know Ulquiorra better and support her relationship with him, whatever that turned out to be, she had called her for her help in explaining human relationships to Ulquiorra. As soon as Rukia arrived Orihime dragged her into her room while Ulquiorra stayed in the living room. She didn't explain to Rukia why she wanted her to come over on the phone so naturally Rukia gave her a questioning stare as soon as she arrived. "What's going on Orihime is there a problem already?"

Orihime started giggling awkwardly, "Well you see, earlier you know how you guys promised to support my relationship with Ulquiorra and stuff?" Rukia just stared at her before replying "yeah what about it?"

"Well I got to thinking about how we never really discussed our 'relationship' and I decided that we should probably define what exactly our relationship is before doing anything else with him."

Rukia was intrigued now and was still curious as to why Orihime had called her so suddenly. "Ok so what happened?"

"Well on the way home I was thinking about it so I asked him."

"Well so what did he say?"

"He asked me what I wanted it to be but said he was also kind of confused by the question. Then I realized that he's not exactly a normal human boy and he probably has no idea at all about 'human relationships' so I told him that I'd explain to him once we got here and then I called you because I need your help explaining the different types of relationships to him."

Now Rukia began to understand why Orihime had called her. "I see, well okay just give me a few minutes here." Rukia turned around working on something that Orihime couldn't see and when she faced Orihime again she showed her what she had been doing. She apparently pulled her sketchpad out of thin air and had drawn little illustrations that looked like little Ulquiorra and Orihime rabbits. Orihime started to laugh but this is exactly why she had called Rukia in the first place, she knew that Rukia would help her illustrate her point. "That's perfect Rukia; this is exactly why I called you." She was so excited to go explain things to Ulquiorra.

The two girls went over what they were going to say to Ulquiorra and exited the bedroom. Ulquiorra looked up at them as they returned catching Orihime's eyes and waiting for her to tell him what was going on. He saw something in her eyes he had never really seen before, mischief, it made him a little uneasy about what might be going on. The two girls grabbed some chairs from the dining room and sat down facing him as Orihime cleared her throat. "Ok so you know how I asked you about our relationship earlier and you didn't really understand." He didn't say anything he didn't feel that he needed to of course he remembered it was only a few hours ago.

Orihime had learned during her time in Hueco Mundo that if he didn't reply to her questions and remained silent then she could consider that a yes and continue. "Well I told you I would explain what I meant and that's why I called Rukia over here to help explain what I was talking about."

Rukia chimed in then, she held up her first childlike drawing depicting a miniature Orihime and then miniature drawings of all of her friends including him around her at the top of the page it said friendship. She explained, "Ok so here we have friendships Orihime, Ichigo, Chad, Uryuu, Tatsuki, and myself are all friends." She flipped the page and it showed the same drawings of them doing different activities like going to school and to the movies. "When you're friends with someone you like to hang out and do things together like go out to eat or watch movies or things like that."

Ulquiorra was confused as to why the onna thought that her friend's crappy drawings would help him understand but he didn't say anything about that. He didn't want her to be mad at him for insulting her friend's artwork. "I see, alright go on" he replied in his monotone waiting for her to continue.

Rukia was so excited that he didn't say anything bad about her drawings like Ichigo always did. She looked at Orihime gave her a thumbs up and flipped the page and continued her explanation, "Ok relationships also include things like family members and roommates. Roommates are people who live together they can also be your friends but they don't have to be." The picture she showed him was the same rabbit like drawings, under the one that said family it looked like the Orihime rabbit and then one that looked like the picture of her brother Sora that she had told him about. The one labeled roommates looked like the layout of the onna's apartment with the rooms labeled and the rabbit Ulquiorra was in one room and the Orihime rabbit in her room.

So far he didn't really think that any of these descriptions were appropriate for his and the onna's 'relationship' but he nodded and said "Continue," anyway. She flipped the page and smiled at him "Now we have the romantic relationships, generally people who like each other as more than just friends begin to date each other and sometimes grow to love each other and get married and start a family. Sometimes when people date each other they find out that they aren't compatible for some reason or another and break-up and then eventually will start dating someone else and so on and so forth."

The pictures for this one were the Ulquiorra and Orihime rabbits doing things like holding hands and kissing, and then under the drawing that said break-up they had their backs turned to each other and there was a little broken heart between the two of them. "That's pretty much the main ones, there are others but they are not worth explaining at the moment." Rukia looked quite pleased with herself; he still hadn't said anything bad about her drawings.

Ulquiorra stood and went to the window and was looking outside at the sunset. Rukia gave Orihime a questioning look and Orihime got up and led her back to the bedroom to talk to her. "Don't worry he's just trying to process everything you explained to him and thinking about what to say to me." Rukia looked at her, "How do you know that's what he's doing?" "Well because in Hueco Mundo I learned to read his facial expressions and his body language."

Rukia asked Orihime if she wanted her to stick around to wait for his answer with her, but Orihime told her not to worry it could be a while before he answered anyway. "He's the kind of guy who thinks through everything before answering questions like that." Rukia laughed and walked out of the room with Orihime and headed for the door. Before she left Ulquiorra walked over to the two women and said "Thank you for helping illustrate these things to me."

Rukia squealed with delight at hearing that, no one ever complimented her drawings. She was so excited she grabbed him in a quick hug and he tensed up immediately, he was not used to physical contact and he didn't really want any from anyone other than the onna anyway. The hug didn't last long though and she quickly pulled away from him hugging Orihime as well before she smiled at the two of them and left. Ulquiorra turned to the woman with a confused look on his face and asked her, "Why did the shinigami hug me before leaving?" Orihime smiled at him, "it's something people do when they say goodbye to their close friends or sometimes if they're really excited about something." She almost laughed at him because he looked even more confused than before so she elaborated, "She probably hugged you because you thanked her for her explanations and her drawings. Ichigo always tells her that her drawings are crappy so she was excited that you didn't say something negative about them."

He nodded in understanding; he wouldn't tell the onna that he too thought they were crappy. Partly because he would never admit to agreeing with the substitute shinigami about anything, and also because he knew that it was important to Orihime that he tried to get along with her friends and that would not be a good way to do that.

She could see the look of confusion come back to his eyes but waited for him to tell her why. He looked at her and repeated his question from earlier, "What would you like our relationship to be onna?" He was actually somewhat nervous to hear her response; he didn't want to just be considered her friend, that description didn't seem adequate for their current relationship. But he wouldn't ask for more than that from her unless it's what she wanted.

She was frustrated; she wanted to hear what he wanted before getting her hopes up. What if he didn't want to date her but would if that's what she said she wanted. Sighing in frustration she didn't know how to answer him.

He could see the frustration in her face clearly she was not happy with his answer so he would have to try and guess what it is she wanted him to say. He tilted her chin up to look at him. "I have a question about one of the relationships onna." The frustrated look left her face as she stared into his eyes. "Okay what's your question?"

Moving his hand through her hair and to the back of her neck he gently pulled her closer to him until he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Her hands came up to rest on his chest just as his tongue glided across her lower lip asking for entrance which she gave. The kiss was nowhere near as intense as the ones they shared this morning but it still made her weak in the knees. After a few seconds he pulled away breaking their kiss and looked into her eyes and asked, "Which type of relationship would allow me to continue to do that?" She smiled at him, "That would be the one Rukia described as dating or in other words being boyfriend and girlfriend." "I see, that means that I would be the only one who would get to do that with you is that correct?" Her face flushed, "Yes that's right." He gave her a small smirk and replied to her, "Then if I were to choose one, it would be that one, however only if that is what you want onna."

She replied to him by smiling and leaning up to kiss him again. "I was hoping you would say that."

She then pulled away from him and went to the kitchen saying something about starving and she was going to cook him something. He remembered her telling him about some of her strange food combinations in Hueco Mundo and was not exactly sure he wanted to try her cooking but he didn't really have any other choice. He went to stand in the kitchen with her watching her as she prepared their meal. She made fish-shaped sweetbean bread and ramen with wasabi and honey for dinner.

He wasn't sure he wanted to try it but he couldn't hurt the onna's feeling by refusing so he had to. If this is the kind of stuff that the onna ate on a daily basis, no wonder she never wanted to eat in Hueco Mundo. It certainly didn't look very appetizing but he figured it was best to just get it over with. Urahara had told him he needed to eat human food to sustain his gigai but he wondered if this is what all humans ate. He took a wary first bite; the onna was watching him the whole time waiting for his reaction. He had to admit, it didn't taste as bad as he thought it would, and it wasn't bad at all actually it just didn't look very good, so he continued to eat. "Why are you staring at me onna?"

She hadn't realized she had been that obvious in her staring, she flushed and replied "No reason, so how do you like the food?" She was nervous about his answer; nobody ever shared her taste in food except for Rangiku and Mr. Tessai. So she definitely didn't expect his answer. "At first I didn't think it looked very good, and it seemed like a strange combination." Her face fell but she had already been expecting him to say that. "But it is actually quite good and very flavorful." She jerked her head up gaping at him she definitely was not expecting him to say that. She jumped out of her chair and tackled him causing them both to fall to the floor in a heap. Thankfully due to his quick reflexes he was able to shift enough so that he took the brunt of the fall and the onna landed safely on top of him.

The onna was so excited that she didn't even realize their current position with him on his back on the floor and she was straddling him looking down at him and going on about how people don't usually like her cooking. Even if she didn't realize their position he did and his new gigai obviously was too sensitive as he felt a certain part of his anatomy responding to the situation. He would have to mention this problem to that shady scientist and get him to fix it; he probably did this on purpose. He had to admit though that even if he was in his normal body he might be having the same issue but he liked to think he had more self control than that.

He attempted to sit up a little which only seemed to make the situation worse as the onna slid further down from his stomach to his groin area which is exactly what he was trying to avoid. He couldn't take it anymore, "Yes onna, I enjoyed your food now would you please get off of me." He tried to say it as nicely as he could but it came out sounding like a desperate growl.

Orihime finally stopped talking and looked down at him confused for a moment before she finally seemed to realize their position. She turned scarlet instantly before getting up and apologizing to him. He simply told her not to fret over it and to eat her own dinner before it got cold. She sat down and smiled at him her cheeks still a brilliant shade of red.

After they finished eating Ulquiorra helped her do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. By the time they were done she was getting tired, it seemed like it had been a very long day for the both of them. They sat down on the couch together and Orihime turned on the television as Ulquiorra picked up the book he had been reading earlier. Her mind wasn't on the TV though as she was thinking about their sleeping arrangements.

Even though they were dating now it hardly seemed appropriate to for him to be sleeping in her bed after only one day; technically he had slept in her bed last night though. She had to admit that she liked waking up in his arms, and she definitely liked what had come after that until Yoruichi interrupted them. That was the problem though, she liked it too much and she didn't want to move too fast with him. They were moving fast enough as it was. On the other hand she knew that he would never do anything to disrespect her in that way. She was confident that if things started happening that she wasn't ready for she could tell him to stop and he would. She also felt so safe in his arms last night. She felt protected and cared for and she liked listening to his heartbeat.

He noticed that the onna was deep in thought about something again. She was making her 'thinking' face again. He had to admit he found her antics and the funny faces she would make when daydreaming or thinking very endearing. It seemed that whenever he was with her he was always curious about everything too. He never really cared what anyone else was thinking or feeling but with the onna it was different. "What are you so deep in thought about now onna?" She smiled at his curiosity having just made up her mind on what to do, "Nothing, I'm tired let's go to sleep." He nodded closing his book as the onna stood up and held out her hand to him and led him to her bedroom.

She went and got him some of her brother's old pajama pants and a black t-shirt to sleep in. She went to the bathroom to change into her sleeping attire. When she returned he had already changed and was sitting on her bed waiting for her to come out. When she did she was wearing some pink shorts that were very short and a matching tank top which seemed to accentuate her large assets.

He couldn't help but think that the onna was going to be the death of him. What she was wearing couldn't be good for his blood pressure; his new heart seemed to agree as he noticed it started beating faster. He was trying to be a gentleman and not rush things with her that he knew she wasn't ready for, but she was making it difficult for him. He wondered if she even realized the effect that her beauty and her wearing something like that would have on him. Knowing the onna it probably didn't even occur to her, he had noticed that sometimes she seemed to be clueless about certain things that should be obvious. He wouldn't tell her though, not yet anyway, he decided to think of this as a test of his willpower and may the gods help him if he failed. Failure was definitely not an option in this matter.

She pulled the covers of her bed back and climbed in and motioned for him to get in next to her. He laid down on his back as he had done the night before and she immediately cuddled up next to him with her head resting on his chest so she could listen to his heart. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. He felt her pick her head up to look at him so he opened his eyes to see what she wanted. When he did she leaned towards him to give him a tender kiss like the one they shared earlier that night. After pulling away she said goodnight and laid back down on his chest.

While she fell asleep rather quickly he laid there and prayed to whatever god might exist for strength and to let his willpower be enough to control this defective gigai. He would definitely have to mention this to the scientist. He also thought about the onna until his eyelids grew heavy and sleep finally claimed him.

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**A/N: So I really liked writing this chapter so I hope you all enjoy reading it. We've got some sweet Ulquihime moments as well as some funny ones with them. Poor Ulquiorra and his "defective" gigai haha. I also liked Rukia in this one. It seems like she is always popping up with those crazy drawings to explain things to Ichigo so I figured she could do the same for Ulquiorra. I also feel like Ulquiorra would share Orihime's weird taste for food but that's probably because his virgin taste buds wouldn't know any better. Until next time kids leave a review and tell me what you thought. **


	7. Shopping and Shirts

**A/N: It made me sooooo happy to see that you all enjoyed the scenes with Rukia and her drawings from last chapter. I had almost as much fun reading the responses to that as I did writing it. Now on with the story…**

**DISCLAIMER: I unfortunately do not own Bleach it is all due to the inspiration of Tite Kubo. Genius.**

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The morning came far too quickly for Ulquiorra's liking. He had been up most of the night thinking about the onna. It didn't help that she liked to squirm around in her sleep when she dreamed about something ridiculous. He knew that she was dreaming ridiculous things because she also liked to mumble in her sleep. He could see the morning sun starting to peek through the curtains, it was still early morning. The onna had finally settled down about an hour ago and unfortunately for him was now laying on her side with her back pressed up against his chest and was currently using his arm as a pillow. As comfortable and nice as it was to lay with her like this his defective gigai was having problems again thus he was still unable to fall asleep.

At this point he wasn't even sure it would matter considering it was almost morning. Just as he was falling asleep again the onna awoke snuggling into his back for a moment making his gigai react to her again. She started to get up but he put his arm around her waist to hold her in place and told her to go back to sleep. She however, did not listen to him at all, not that she ever really did. She instead twisted in his arms so that she was facing him now. She smiled at him kissing his lips quickly and said "good morning to you too, how did you sleep?"

He figured the only reason she could possibly ask such a ridiculous question was if she didn't realize she talked and squirmed in her sleep. "Onna what were you dreaming about last night?" She thought about his question and finally replied, "Well I had a dream that you got hired to play the new batman and I came along as your agent, then I thought it would be great to hire Yoruichi as catwoman and everyone else thought so too." He really had no idea what anything she just said meant. He leaned over and kissed her to stop her incessant rambling. His plan worked perfectly and she stopped talking nonsense.

"Onna are you not aware that you talk and squirm in your sleep?"

"Really?"

"Yes really."

She pouted for a minute looking at his grumpy face before she apologized "I'm sorry it's not like anyone else has ever slept in my bed with me so I had no idea." He regretted even telling her now she looked so sad. "You have nothing to apologize for onna; it is something that is beyond your control." She smiled at him again as he said that. It's true that there wasn't much she could really do about it, it's not like she could control what she dreamt about. She felt bad though that he didn't get much sleep.

"How about you stay in bed and go back to sleep and I will get up and make breakfast."

As tempted as he was to take the onna up on her offer he would have to decline. If she was going to get up then so would he. Despite the onna's constant squirming he didn't want to lie in the bed without her. As an arrancar he hadn't needed to sleep. Since he was stuck in this gigai he now needed to eat, sleep and do all the other things that normal humans had to do. The whole thing was sort of ridiculous, an arrancar in a gigai living in the human world; but he would deal with it just to be near the onna. He wondered if the onna knew just how much control over him she had, probably not.

He sighed, oh the things he would have to endure now to be near her, but when he thought about it so far it had all been worth it. He threw the covers off and started to get up and held his hand out to help the onna out of bed. "Don't you want to go back to sleep?" She asked him with a slightly confused look on her face. "No onna, if you are going to get up then so shall I." She smiled at him, she thought it was cute that he didn't want to go back to sleep without her, despite his complaints about her squirming. "Well then, how about I get you some of my brother's old clothes to wear today and you can take a shower, while I make breakfast."

He nodded in response to her suggestion and she happily got up to get her brother's clothes for him. She didn't really have a lot for him to wear, so she chose some black slacks and a white button up shirt for him. She had already made up her mind last night that today she would take him shopping to get his own clothes. Plus since he looked about her age people would expect him to be in school, so she needed to get him a uniform and the other things he would need. They should probably stop by Urahara's shop too and see if he could help her with some fake ID's and paperwork so that she could enroll him.

She brought the clothes she had picked out for him to him but he wasn't where she left him. She heard a noise coming from the bathroom and figured he was probably in there but the door wasn't shut so she walked right in. Ulquiorra was in there alright, and he had already started undressing, she was totally unprepared for the sight of him standing there shirtless. She mentally sighed in relief; luckily she got there before he took off his pants, or unluckily depending on how she wanted to look at it.

He cheeks instantly turned bright red and she started laughing awkwardly, "I'm sorry I didn't know you had already started changing. Here are my brother's clothes for you." She had one hand over her eyes, and her head turned to the side but he could clearly see her peeking through her fingers anyway. Ridiculous if she wanted to look at him why not just look instead of pretending not to. He took the clothes she was handing to him and set them down, but she didn't leave the room, not that he minded if she stayed. She had turned back to face him but now was using both hands to cover her eyes but she was still peeking through her fingers.

He almost wanted to smirk at her; the onna was the only one who ever made him want to do that. She finally turned to walk away after she realized he had been staring back at her for a few minutes now. As she was walking away with her cheeks aflame, he caught her by the shoulders from behind and pulled her back against him. She squealed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and moved to her ear to tell her, "If you wish to look at me onna, I do not mind, you do not have to disguise your interest." He moved his lips down to kiss her neck gently and then her shoulder before releasing her and turning back around to get in the shower.

She didn't think her face could get any redder, it felt like it was on fire. She thought she might spontaneously combust if she stayed in there any longer so without turning around she left the bathroom closing the door as she did. She couldn't believe it she had been busted again. Was it really that obvious that she had been looking at him anyway? Probably she couldn't take her eyes off him, he was all lean muscle. She had seen all of her other male friends shirtless before but most of the time it was during a fight or when she was healing them. Seeing Ulquiorra shirtless was altogether different than seeing any of her other friends though. She obviously couldn't deny her physical attraction to him, especially since he caught her looking.

She would just have to distract herself from picturing him like that by doing something else, like making breakfast. She had almost forgotten that she was supposed to be doing that while he was taking a shower. She wasn't even sure how long he'd been in the shower now, because she didn't know how long she had been standing outside the door still thinking about him. She needed to get to work on breakfast before he caught her drooling all over herself because of him. Come on Orihime get it together, she mentally cheered herself on as she went to the kitchen.

Since she wasn't sure how much time she had she decided to make something quick and easy. That turned out to be a good thing because just as she was finishing Ulquiorra walked out of the room, fully clothed this time, and sat down at the table. The fact that he was fully clothed didn't really mean a whole lot though because she had already memorized what he looked like shirtless anyway. She felt her cheeks start to glow just remembering it but she tried to push it from her mind as best as she could and focus on breakfast.

"I made us some red bean paste pancakes for breakfast." He looked at his food and once again it didn't really look that great but he tried it anyway and just like last night found it to be surprisingly good despite appearances. He knew the onna had plans for them today he heard her mention something about being busy all day. He wondered what new human experience she had planned for them today. He needed to go and see that stupid scientist at some point about his defective gigai but he didn't particularly want to share what its problems were with the onna.

"What do you have planned for us to do today onna?" She looked up from her breakfast at him glad that he started the conversation. Usually she was the one who had to think of things to talk about. "Well I figured that I would take you shopping and buy you some clothes of your own to wear, I also thought we could go back to Urahara's shop and see about getting you a fake identity so that we can enroll you in school tomorrow." He looked up at her bewildered for a moment. "Why would I go to your school onna?"

"Well because that's what people our age do."

He looked at her and considered her statement. Had the onna forgotten that he was probably several times older than her, possibly centuries older than her if he were to count his life as a human before and his time as a hollow. He did not think that something like this could escape her knowledge so she must have been referring to how old he looked according to human years and if that were the case he could see her having a valid point. Still he wasn't exactly looking forward to going to school with the onna's friends. It didn't really seem like he had a choice in the matter anyway, at least if he was with her he could protect her and make sure that the other males at this school knew that she was taken. He was no fool and he knew that the other males most likely wanted the onna for themselves. He would also be able to annoy the substitute shinigami and since he couldn't kill him that would have to do.

He was also glad that the onna planned on going back to Urahara's shop today, it would make it easier for him to be able to discuss the problems with his gigai. Perhaps the scientist also had some more information for them about what had happened to him. He was glad to be here and be able to be near the onna like this but in his experience it was also always better to understand how and why something occurred as well. It sounded like they were going to be busy all day, and being stuck in this pathetic gigai with his lack of sleep was annoying. Yes he would definitely have to speak to Urahara about it.

He sighed and continued his meal. Orihime finished before him and got up to go get ready herself kissing him on the cheek as she left the room. Oh yes the things he would do for the onna. She knew that he wouldn't enjoy shopping with her, oh well he would just have to come up with a way for her to compensate him later. He got up and cleaned up the kitchen and put all the dishes away so that the onna wouldn't have to do it later. By the time he was finished the onna had emerged from her room wearing a knee length white skirt with purple flowers on it with a long sleeved white shirt and she had on some knee high brown boots. Grabbing her jacket and scarf by the door she asked him if he was ready to go. He wasn't really but he figured it was better to just get it over with.

"Where do you want to go first?" He didn't bother answering her question because the onna had grabbed his hand and was leading them to their first destination anyway. When she deemed that they had arrived they were in front of a large store and all he saw were women entering and exiting carrying large numbers bags. He knew before even entering the store that this would be an unpleasant experience. Yet the onna was smiling and seemed to be so excited. He wouldn't ruin it for her.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the store leading him to the men's clothes. The onna would go through things and asked him what he liked and didn't like. He didn't know how to answer her seeing as how he never really cared what he wore. In Hueco Mundo they had all been required to wear uniforms so it never really mattered to him. Now that the onna wanted him to choose things that he liked he found it difficult because he really had no opinion either way and he told the onna this. Yes this was indeed going to be a long day.

Eventually the onna gave up on asking for his opinion on things and would just hold things up next to him deciding that certain things looked right or wrong based on some unknown criteria she had. They both looked over when they heard a familiar voice laughing nearby. Yoruichi was there laughing at the sight of the two of them shopping. Orihime went to talk to her and ask her why she was there, it turned out she had decided to take Ururu shopping and happened to see them while they were out. Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes in suspicion at her reply, for some unknown reason he had a feeling that the two of them had been sent to secretly keep an eye on him. As if he would hurt the onna, ridiculous.

Since they were there they decided to help Orihime pick out clothes for him. They all continued to pick out things for him based on these unknown criteria. It seemed that everyone understood these criteria except for him. He tried figuring it out but he couldn't they would hold up things that were exactly the same only different colors and would choose one and put the other back, it didn't make any sense.

When they had amassed a huge stack of different clothing items they forced him into the dressing room and made him try on everything they had picked out. As he did they would keep the ones they liked and put other things back on the racks of clothes. He still couldn't figure out their reasoning behind which to keep and which to put back but he guessed it didn't really matter. At one point he came out of the dressing room and the onna was missing. He immediately began scanning the room for her as Yoruichi noticed she began giggling at him telling him that she would be right back she had just gone to get something for him. He searched for her spiritual pressure and confirmed that what the woman said was true sensing that the onna was indeed still nearby.

After what felt like hours to Ulquiorra he finally finished trying on all of the clothes the three women had picked out for him. Yes things were so much simpler when he just had to wear his uniform all the time. He followed the onna to the counter where she paid for everything. He took the opportunity to ask her "onna where did you go earlier?" She should have known that he would ask her where she was. He was too observant sometimes she knew that he would've noticed her absence immediately. She smiled at him putting her arms around his neck and stood on her toes to kiss him briefly. "I went to get you something that I didn't want you to see yet because it's a surprise." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her but didn't say anything because she said she would surprise him with it later.

Glad to finally be done clothes shopping with the three females they finally headed in the direction of Urahara's shop. The onna was holding his hand and chattering away with the two other girls as they made their way there. Upon finally arriving at the candy shop they found the shop owner snoozing in the living room with his mouth open. Yoruichi kicked him yelling at him to get his lazy butt up. Rolling over and yawning while rubbing his eyes he noticed that they had company.

"Ah welcome back Ulquiorra and Orihime. Did you have fun testing the gigai does everything work ok?" He asked with a smirk on his face and giving them a wink. The onna started to blush while he entertained the thought of punching the man in the face. The scientist's word only helped to reinforce his previous thoughts about the scientist giving him a defective gigai on purpose.

"Actually I know that you've already helped us with a lot but we were wondering if maybe you could help set Ulquiorra up with some fake paperwork and things so that I can enroll him in school tomorrow." The scientist noticed how neither one of them answered his previous question but didn't push for an answer. Yawning he called Ururu and asked her to make some tea for him and his guests. "I think I can do that Orihime, it should be no problem at all. Why don't you follow me Ulquiorra and help me with some of the information while you stay here Orihime."

Ulquiorra stood to follow the man to the back of the store. He was perhaps more observant than he first gave him credit for. When he had asked about his gigai Ulquiorra had shot him a warning glare which the scientist apparently took notice of. He followed him to a room in the back and as soon as Urahara closed the door he was met with a punch in the face. Feigning surprise he looked back at Ulquiorra confused "is that any way to say thank you. What exactly was that for anyway?" Ulquiorra just stood back hands in his pockets glaring at the man "that was for this obviously defective gigai you gave me."

Urahara not at all fazed by the punch to his face stood and smiled "why whatever do you mean? How exactly is your gigai defective?" Ulquiorra narrowed his stare on the man debating whether or not to tell him what was wrong, but he didn't really have a choice. He would have to tell the man if he wanted him to fix it. Sighing he broke his stare finally looking away "it is too sensitive, and responds to the onna's slightest touch too easily. It is uncomfortable at times." The scientist smiled knowingly at Ulquiorra's problems with the gigai. "Well I hate to break it to you, but there is nothing wrong with your gigai."

Ulquiorra looked like he wanted to cero the man on the spot. "Do not lie to me Kisuke Urahara." Urahara put his hands up and shrugged his shoulders "I wouldn't dream of it, there really is nothing wrong with it; it is responding as any normal human would. If that is the only problem I can't help you with that." He had a hard time controlling what he said without laughing. Ulquiorra didn't seem like the type that would take that well and despite being in a gigai limiting his strength he was still abnormally strong. He didn't want to get punched again if he didn't have to.

Ulquiorra seemed to consider his words quietly for a moment but he made no move to punch the scientist again. He sighed in frustration. He somehow subconsciously figured that might be the case. He had a feeling all along that that's what the scientist would say. He would just have to find his own way of dealing with it. Perhaps with some training and practice he would be better at controlling this body. He looked at the scientist again still irritated about the issue "fine, let us finish the other business that the onna and I have come for." Urahara had a hard time not laughing still but moved around Ulquiorra to get started on his paperwork.

About an hour later they returned to the living room where Orihime and Yoruichi were having tea. Orihime stood asking him if he got everything, he nodded and handed her the folder Urahara had given him filled with the paperwork the onna had asked for. Gathering up their shopping bags from earlier they said their goodbyes and headed back to the woman's apartment as Urahara and Yoruichi stood on the front porch waving to them.

Once they were out of sight the dark skinned woman's face turned serious "are you going to tell them?" The scientist turned to look at her his face turning serious as well "not yet, I want to give them some time together before I do." The woman just eyed him before turning and going back inside.

Once they got back to the woman's apartment she helped him put away all his new clothes and she laid out both of their uniforms for the next day. She sat down on the couch next to him yawning as she did. He turned to look at her as she snuggled up next to him leaning against his arm. It didn't take her long to fall asleep like that and he sighed picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom being careful not to wake her. He was so tired after last night and being out all day that he might actually be able to sleep even with the onna's squirming.

Putting on some pants to sleep in he was about to put on a t-shirt as well until he remembered how the onna stared at him this morning when she had seen him without one. He smirked at the memory, while he was not a vain person it still pleased him to know that the onna found him physically attractive. Deciding to leave it off he climbed into bed next to her. As soon as he did she immediately snuggled up next to him. He wrapped his arms around her slender frame and thought about the many ways she might react in the morning when she woke up until he too fell asleep.

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**A/N: I just wanted to thank you all for the continued good feedback you've given me for this story. Your reviews are what give me the enthusiasm I need to write the next chapters. Hmm I wonder what Yoruichi and Urahara were talking about suspicious no? I can't wait to see what happens when she wakes up sleeping on a shirtless Ulquiorra. Is it me or does his plan seem a little mischievous. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought. Toodles noodles until next time.**


	8. Hickeys and High School

**Tears Like the Rain**

**Chapter 8: Hickeys and High School**

**A/N: Just as a little note about last chapter, I had her make red bean paste pancakes because I totally found a recipe for it online. I'm going to make some of my own one of these days **

**Disclaimer: I do not own bleach**

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She slowly awoke. She didn't want to open her eyes; whatever she was sleeping on was so comfortable. It was soft, yet hard at the same time, warm and smelled incredibly good. It smelled so good she could eat it; maybe Ulquiorra had made her breakfast or something? Opening her eyes she realized it was Ulquiorra that she was sleeping on and smelled so good she wanted to eat. Not only that but he was shirtless again.

His skin was so soft and smooth. From the look on his face he was still sleeping peacefully beside her and hadn't woken up yet. She couldn't believe he had come to bed without a shirt on what was he trying to do exactly make her explode? Since he was still sleeping she didn't have to hide her blatant staring this time. Suddenly just staring wasn't enough though she wanted to touch him, and trace over the lines of his defined muscles with her fingers.

She knew that she shouldn't, if he caught her it would be the second time he caught her molesting his perfect skin. That should have been enough reason for her to not do it but it wasn't. She brought her hand up and as lightly as possible traced the area where his hole used to be first. She then moved down to run her fingers along the definition of his chest and lower still to trace the outlines of his abdominal muscles before reversing direction her hand slowly moving back towards where she had started.

She looked at his face to see if he was still asleep. He appeared to be, she could see his chest rising and falling with deep even breaths. She knew she shouldn't but since waking up to the thought of him smelling good enough to eat she wanted to see if he actually tasted as good as he smelled. She leaned over him and gently kissed the spot where his hole used to be before her tongue darted out to taste the skin there. She was right he did taste as good as he smelled. Slowly her mouth began to follow the path her hand had made earlier her tongue darting out to taste his skin everywhere she placed a kiss.

Faster than her mind could register what had happened she found herself on her back pinned down by a now very awake Ulquiorra. Her first thought being, damn it busted again. He eyes held something that she had never seen in them before and it terrified her and excited her at the same time. She could feel the fire in them threatening to consume her. "What exactly do you think you were doing onna?" His voice came out deeper than usual and almost growled the question.

She stared up at him not being able to take her eyes off of his. "Well when I woke up, I smelled something good enough to eat and then I realized it was you, and I couldn't help myself I wanted to see if you really did taste as good as you smelled. I'm sorry." The rest of what she had to say was cut off as he kissed her. Did she not realize the beast she had awoken in him?

He was having a hard enough time controlling his gigai's responses to the onna in the first place. Having woken up to her running her fingers all along his skin followed by her mouth had been too much for him. He kissed her hard and roughly at first but as his kisses became gentler he removed his hands from her upper arms where he had grabbed her to flip them over. He kissed her with long breathless kisses that sent shocks one after another over her body and through her blood. His lips began to wander down deep into the hollow of her neck as one of his hands slipped underneath her shirt to touch the skin at her waist with feather light touches. Much in the same way she did to him earlier his hand wandered further north until it ghosted across the side of her breast making her moan and arch herself closer to him.

He knew he should stop. The onna wasn't ready and he knew it, he would not do something that later she would regret. Gently biting and suckling the skin of her neck he removed his hand from her shirt and back up to caress her face as his lips returned to meet hers. After a moment he stopped pulling away and looking at her his hand cradling her head. "Has your curiosity about how I taste been sufficiently satisfied onna or would you like to continue what you were doing earlier?"

He was kind of hoping she would say that she wanted to continue but he knew that she wouldn't. Her face was already turning cherry red at his question. She laughed and smiled at him, "no I think that my um, curiosity, has been sated for now." He looked down at her, "I see and what did you determine?" She looked at him confused for a moment "about what?" He smirked at her "about whether or not I taste as good as I smell." She felt like her cheeks were on fire. He was teasing her. "Well I guess that I would have to say yes" she said a little under her breath as she turned away from him embarrassed. "What was that onna, I could not hear you." In truth he had excellent hearing and had indeed heard what she said but if she was going to be cruel and tease him like she did this morning he felt entitled to do the same.

She turned toward him in a huff "I said that yes you do," looking almost angry that he had made her repeat herself. She pushed on his chest to put some distance between them as she sat up looking at the clock by her bed. "Oh my gosh, we need to hurry or we'll be late to school. Get up." She practically leapt out of bed over him and started rushing around the room. He didn't particularly want to get out of bed, mostly because he was apprehensive about going to school with the onna. He would much rather stay here in bed with the onna and let her continue exploring him and vice versa.

She practically dragged him out of the bed and pushed him into the bathroom with his clothes and ordered him to get ready. He could not believe that the onna was now issuing him orders. Nevertheless he decided that he needed a very cold shower anyway due to their earlier activities. He would definitely have to start spending time training his gigai to not be so sensitive. With a sigh he turned the cold water on full blast took a shower and got dressed as she had demanded.

Exiting the bathroom he saw the onna rushing around with a piece of toast hanging from her mouth. The sight was highly amusing. She pushed him into the kitchen where she had some toast waiting for him as well and told him eat while she got ready. She had woken up late several times in the past which helped her hone her skills at her super speed transformation as she liked to call it. She emerged in less than ten minutes having showered and was fully dressed and ready to go. Her hair was still a little wet but there was nothing she could really do about that now they had to get going. They still had to register Ulquiorra at school.

Grabbing her coat and his she rushed him out the door and locked it behind her. The whole way to school she kept tugging on his arm like a puppy again trying to rush him. He maintained his casual pace the whole way and by the time they arrived they were still fifteen minutes early. She took him straight to the front office to get him registered and with any luck they wouldn't be that late to first period.

The bell rang and class started and Orihime was nowhere to be found. Ichigo was starting to get agitated. Where the hell was she, she was never late for school. He looked around at his friends quietly asking them if any of them knew where Orihime was. After they all answered no he was about to shoot out of his chair at any moment to go find her. He knew it was a bad idea to let that arrancar stay. Arrancars were still hollows after all what if he ate her or something. He had completely forgotten the fact that Urahara told them he wasn't a hollow anymore. Just as he was getting ready to go hunt that bastard down for eating Orihime there was a knock at the door.

The teacher opened the door revealing none other than Orihime. "Well Orihime it's not like you to be late to class I hope you have a good reason and who is this behind you?" Orihime laughed a little at being put on the spot. "I do Ms. Ochi, here's my note we have a new foreign exchange student and I was helping him register at the principal's office." Her teacher let her in to the classroom and she took her seat most of her friends smiled at her while Ichigo mouthed the words "are you ok, he didn't try to eat you or anything did he?"

She told him "no of course not" in a huff and sat down, she started to turn red thinking back to their earlier activities, if things had continued he might have actually eaten her but not in the way Ichigo was thinking. This thought made her turn scarlet red as she pictured it in her head. Rukia tapped her on her shoulder and asked her if she was really alright snapping her out of her daydream. Where had that come from, she never thought things like that. Not even when she had a crush on Ichigo had she thought about them doing things like what she just pictured doing with Ulquiorra.

"Well young man come in and introduce yourself to the class." He walked in hands in his pockets and locked eyes with the onna thinking that he would have to ask her why she was so red at the moment later. He didn't take his eyes off of her as he spoke to the class, "My name is Ulquiorra Cifer, and I just moved here from Spain. It is nice to meet you all." His tone of voice contradicted his words. Everyone had noticed that he hadn't taken his eyes off of Orihime since class started. "Very well go and find a seat I believe there is one open behind Miss Inoue." He sat down behind her as instructed and secretly she was glad her was behind her and couldn't see her face all day.

He sat through the mind numbingly boring morning classes all morning. Rukia the petite shinigami who had come over to help him understand relationships with her crappy drawings sat to his left and directly across from the onna. She had turned to him when he first sat down giving him a big smile and waving enthusiastically to him. Behind her sat the substitute shinigami who looked beyond pissed off. When Rukia had so openly welcomed him this morning the boy almost lost it. He asked her what she was doing and she just replied that she was saying hi and being friendly. He apparently was having difficulty understanding why she was being friendly towards Ulquiorra in the first place.

Uryuu sat at the front of the class in the row to his right and had looked back at the two of them when they first entered and had given Ulquiorra a curt nod. Chad if he remembered his name correctly had glanced over at the two of them from his position directly to the right of Orihime and nodded his head in acknowledgement as well. Orihime was delighted to see that her friends were being very friendly and accepting of Ulquiorra so far. Well with the exception of Ichigo that is.

Finally the lunch bell rang and the class dispersed immediately everyone headed off to their usual lunch spots. The only people left behind were Tatsuki, Orihime and Ulquiorra as the tom boyish friend made her way over to them. "Ahh that's right I haven't officially introduced you two yet have I? Ulquiorra this is my best friend Tatsuki, Tatsuki meet Ulquiorra." Tatsuki reached out her hand in greeting, "It's nice to meet you, Orihime told me all about you the other day." Ulquiorra took her hand and shook it replying "the onna told me much about you as well, during our time in Hueco Mundo."

He thought the tom boyish girl might try and fight him based on what the onna had told him about her and considering his past with the onna. He was genuinely surprised that she didn't and almost even seemed welcoming. He wondered just what the onna might have told her that caused this but he was glad that she didn't try and fight him. The onna seemed ecstatic that the two of them hadn't punched each other yet as well. Tatsuki turned and asked if she could speak to Orihime alone for a minute. He nodded and told the onna he would wait for her right outside the classroom door and left the onna and her friend alone.

As soon as he left Orihime gave Tatsuki a big hug and thanked her for really trying to be nice and to get to know him. She laughed and said, "I told you I would didn't I, anyway what I really wanted to ask you is what's that mark on your neck?" She looked back at her confused "what are you talking about what mark." Tatsuki reached up and touched it briefly, "that one." Orihime thought about what she could possibly be talking about when it hit her.

Oh no please say it isn't so. She pulled a mirror out of her bag to look and nearly screamed. There on her neck was a small hickey right where Ulquiorra had been kissing her this morning. She had been getting ready so fast she hadn't even noticed it. Damn her super speed transformation for making her miss something like this. "Oh my god Tatsuki I didn't even notice it what am I going to do?" Tatsuki started laughing at her, "what do you mean you didn't notice it, I hope you were awake when he gave you that or I really will fight him." Orihime told her what had happened that morning including the part about her dream and her starting it. Tatsuki just laughed at how panicked she was, "Calm down, it's not that noticeable it's mostly hidden underneath your collar. No one will even know."

Orihime squealed, "You noticed it." Tatsuki thought about that for a minute and agreed with her but pointed out that she was more inclined to notice it than anybody else because she was her best friend. She had to figure out something to do about it. Making up her mind about what to do she stormed out of the classroom dragging Tatsuki behind her and marched right up to Ulquiorra, "did you know about this?" pulling her collar down and pointing at the mark he left on her.

Ulquiorra glanced at her and at the mark on her neck before calmly replying "of course I knew onna I am the one who put it there." Tatsuki couldn't take it she busted out laughing while Orihime shot her death glares. Not only was there a hickey on her neck but he knew about it and didn't tell her. "Why didn't you tell me about it?" He looked between the two women, the onna seemed very angry for reasons he could not figure out and her friend was still laughing. "I put it there for a reason onna, so that the other males in your school will know that you are taken."

She blanched, not only did he know about it, he had done it on purpose. She guessed that she should have taught him more about human dating so it was partly her fault but she didn't know he was going to mark her as his. Tatsuki didn't think she could laugh any harder but she was wrong she was laughing so hard her sides hurt and she could barely breathe. Orihime grabbed Ulquiorra by the arm and dragged him away with her to the nurse's office.

By the time Tatsuki had finished laughing lunch was almost over. She had to admit she liked this Ulquiorra guy more than she thought she would. Nobody had made her laugh like that in ages. She had went up to their usual lunch spot and had pulled Rukia aside and told her the story of what happened. By the end of the re-telling they were both in tears from laughter and even though they were a good distance away from their friends everyone still heard them and turned to them staring at the two hyenas. After calming down a bit they went to re-join the others and Renji asked the question they were all dying to know "what's so funny?" Tatsuki turned to Rukia before turning back to the group and replying "a joke that Ulquiorra told me, he's very funny" before the two of them started laughing again.

The boys just looked at them like they had lost their heads. Ichigo was fuming "what was the joke?" Rukia in between laughter told them she couldn't tell them that it was for girls only which made Ichigo madder. How could it be a girls only joke if Ulquiorra was the one who told it first? Honestly the boys all looked stupefied at the fact that Ulquiorra had told a joke in the first place. He didn't really seem like the joking type of guy. He didn't even seem like a funny guy in any way yet the two girls were practically rolling with laughter still.

The bell rang and they all headed back to class, Orihime and Ulquiorra were already back in the classroom. Rukia saw Orihime had put a band-aid over the mark. She guessed that was her solution in case anyone saw it. Holding her laughter in she gave Orihime a wink and two thumbs up before turning and grinning like an idiot the rest of the day. Tatsuki did the same thing but she had to look away from the two for fear of not being able to control her laughter. Orihime felt her cheeks burning the rest of the afternoon.

For being as clueless as Ichigo was, he didn't notice the mark on her neck this morning but he did notice the band-aid after lunch. By the end of the day he had convinced himself that Ulquiorra was a vampire and had tried to bite Orihime. After class Orihime grabbed Ulquiorra and dragged him out of class as soon as she could. Ichigo had all the others in their group stay behind so that he could tell them about what he had seen on Orihime's neck and his vampire theory.

Tatsuki and Rukia stood in the back of the group laughing. Ichigo was an idiot but his theory about Ulquiorra sucking Orihime's neck wasn't too far off from the truth, just not because he was some kind of modern day Dracula. Tatsuki saw that Ichigo was convinced that he was right about this and was trying to get Uryuu to agree with him since he was the only other person who had seen Ulquiorra's release form. Tatsuki punched him in the back of the head and asked "are you some kind of idiot or something, who do you think he is Dracula? He came back from Hueco Mundo not Transylvania." The rest of the group sided with Tatsuki and turned to leave. On their way home Ichigo was still trying to get Uryuu to tell them about Ulquiorra's release form as if that would make a difference.

Orihime dragged Ulquiorra home as fast as she could get there. She had already been embarrassed enough today she didn't want to stick around after school. He could tell that the onna was angry with him but he didn't know why. He sat down on the couch and watched as she mumbled to herself while pacing the living room. He wasn't sure what to do, he got up and stood in front of the onna's path and took her by the shoulders forcing her to look up at him "onna please explain why you are so angry." She looked into his eyes and felt her anger starting to melt away.

She couldn't stay angry at him not when he looked at her like that. His face wouldn't betray how he was feeling but his eyes always gave him away he was confused and concerned about her. She sighed looking away from his penetrating stare. It wasn't his fault really she should have taught him more about human 'mating rituals' as he would call it. The thought behind it made her laugh a little bit and smile as she thought about it. He had marked her as his and was trying to scare off any other males. As animalistic as it all sounded it made her feel warm and fuzzy inside to know that he wanted to claim her as his mate.

She gave him a small smile and put her arms around his neck and explained to him why she was embarrassed about it and what it meant in human culture. He seemed to take it all in not really understanding her explanations, he didn't know why one would not mark their mate it seemed like the obvious thing to do to send a clear signal to other interested males. He didn't really have to understand her explanation though he supposed all he needed to know was that it upset the onna and that was the last thing he ever wanted to do.

She leaned up and kissed him briefly before going to the kitchen to start making dinner. However, not before making him promise that he wouldn't leave marks like that on her again, at least not where anyone else might see them anyway. He sat down and pondered that statement while she made them dinner. He wondered if the onna realized what she had done by adding the last part to her statement. She had basically given him permission to put marks like that on her where no one would be able to see them but him, which meant that he would have to explore more of her body and as of yet unexposed skin to do so.

When Orihime came back to the room she couldn't believe her eyes, Ulquiorra was sitting on the couch making what he described as her daydream face. He was almost smiling but not quite. More than a smirk but less than a smile. It was almost a little scary. She wondered what he was thinking of to make him make that face, it must be something good. She waved her hand in front of his face to snap him out of it as she laughed at him. "What were you thinking about, you were making my daydream face." He thought about telling her what had been on his mind but decided that showing her after dinner seemed like a better option. "I will show you later onna, after we eat."

She knew he wouldn't tell her until he was ready to tell her. So she had to agree but she would make sure to force it out of him later if she had to after dinner. Together they sat and ate dinner in silence. It was a comfortable silence though as both were lost in their own thoughts. After eating he helped her clean up the kitchen and then went to their room.

She followed after him seeing him sit down on the bed. "So are you going to tell me what you were thinking about earlier?" He smirked at her, "I cannot." Her face gaped "why not you said you would tell me after dinner?" Maintaining his smirk as she came and laid on the bed next to him he leaned in to kiss her pulling back to whisper in her ear, "no onna I said that I would _show_ you after dinner." She blushed this time she caught the meaning of what he had said and started thinking back to her thoughts from this morning. He turned off the lights took off his shirt and climbed into bed next to her.

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**A/N: I know I'm so mean for ending this chapter where I did but I love cliffhangers that keep the readers coming back for more. I happen to believe that Ulquiorra's over analytical mind could lead his to some very fun places. Those kids and their out of control hormones, both of them! Poor Ichigo no one wants to believe him haha. Who knew that Ulquiorra could be such a funny guy too, he sure had those girls laughing like a pair of hyenas. LOL. I'm giving you two chapters in less than 24 hours. Show your appreciation by leaving a review to tell me what you thought. Until next time. **


	9. Burning Up

**Tears Like the Rain**

**Chapter 9: Burning Up**

**A/N: So glad you all liked last chapter. FYI my mind tends to be filled with nothing but perverse humor on a daily basis. So expect more to come. ****LIME WARNING AHEAD****, no Lemons yet though. The whole chapter is pretty much one big Lime haha. I suggest you listen to the song below as it is what helped inspire me this chapter but you don't have to just a suggestion. On with the story.**

**DISCLAIMER: You know I do not own Bleach. **

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**Uuuuhh you've got me running around  
Burning up, I keep burning up**  
**But when you touch and play  
You never go all the way, oh no!**

'Cause you're cool  
Looking hot  
Baby oh you're burning  
Me up  
Like a lot  
Uh, I can't control it  
Oh boy  
Won't you stop?  
I feel like you stole it  
I can't live without my heart  
- don't take it away! oh oh

But you please me  
When you tease me  
And I just want more!

Uuuuhh you've got me running around  
Burning up, I keep burning up

1, 2, 3, it's time for me to be burning up!  
I keep burning up  
4, 5, 6, I love your licks and I'm burning up!  
I keep burning up

Can't deny  
It's a fight  
Uhh it's all a battle  
To get  
With you right  
You really got me going  
And my  
Mind is set  
On seeing something growing

**But you please me  
When you tease me  
And I just want more!**

Uuuuhh you've got me running around  
Burning up, I keep burning up

1, 2, 3, it's time for me to be burning up!  
I keep burning up  
4, 5, 6, I love your licks and I'm burning up!  
I keep burning up

**Burning Up - Infernal**

She had been zoning out all morning. Even their teacher noticed. She was busy making her daydream face all day. Only she wasn't exactly daydreaming she was remembering last night. Tatsuki and Rukia couldn't wait to pull her aside and ask her what was up with her at lunch. Ulquiorra just smirked and told her to go talk with her friends if she wanted. He sat down under a tree nearby and began reading a book as the girls went off on their own where no one would overhear their conversation.

Tatsuki and Rukia sat down facing Orihime and Rukia took the initiative to ask her, "What's up with you today Orihime, you've been zoning out all morning." Orihime thought about trying to pretend that nothing had happened but she knew that the two girls knew her too well and would never fall for it. Her cheeks started to feel hot just thinking about what to tell them and how hard it would be for her to talk about it. She had never really had boyfriends before and had only recently had her first kiss.

"Well when we got home yesterday, I explained why I was upset about the hickey. But then I made him promise not to do it again at least where anyone could see it." Tatsuki and Rukia started grinning they caught the last part of her statement just like Ulquiorra had last night. The two of them urged her to continue her story. "Well I went to make dinner and when I came out to tell him it was ready, I caught him making what he likes to call my 'daydream face' it was so funny, so I started wondering what in the world could make him make a face like that and I asked him."

The two girls had a pretty good idea what he could have possibly been daydreaming about considering the promise she made him make but they wanted the rest of the details. "Go on and then what happened?" Orihime sighed knowing she was about to get to the parts that were hard for her to talk about. "He wouldn't tell me he just said he'd show me later after dinner." Tatsuki and Rukia both quirked an eyebrow at that statement and waited for her to continue.

"After we finished eating he went into the bedroom and was sitting on the bed and I followed him in there and asked him if he was going to tell me. Then he teased me and said that he couldn't, and I reminded him that he said he would tell me after dinner." Her cheeks were burning up thinking about what happened next. Rukia was getting impatient waiting for her to continue. She wanted her to get to the good stuff already, "yeah and then what happened?"

Orihime still felt like her face was on fire, she had all morning "Well then he kissed me and whispered in my ear 'no onna I said that I would show you after dinner' and I finally realized that he said show me instead of tell me." She looked down as she bit her lower lip slightly trying to think of what to say next. "And then what?" the two girls practically shouted at her causing a few people that had been walking by to look in their direction.

"Well then he showed me what he had been thinking about." She was hoping to just leave it at that and that they wouldn't make her give the details. They both looked like they wanted to strangle her at that particular moment. She knew they wanted the details of what happened, not just, well he showed me. They were both thinking what kind of crap is that, she couldn't just leave it at that and get away with it.

She knew they were waiting for her to continue, she figured they both might just force it out of her if she didn't tell them soon. As soon as she built up her nerve to talk about it she continued, "So then he turned off the lights and took off his shirt again and came to lie down next to me. He was so sweet and for a minute we just laid there facing each other and he took my hand and interlaced our fingers just like he did the night he came back."

The two girls were glad that she decided to continue the story on her own without them having to force it out of her. When they heard how sweet he was being with her they both sighed a collective, "Aww." She closed her eyes as she continued the story. It was easier for her to talk about these things if she couldn't see her friend's faces.

"Well he leaned in to kiss me, nothing really passionate like that morning just a sweet little kiss and then he whispered to me, onna do you realize the implications of the promise you made me make earlier?" She tried to imitate his voice as best she could but she just couldn't do it right. Tatsuki and Rukia giggled at her they had both realized earlier what her promise implied. They couldn't believe that she didn't realize it right away, maybe she subconsciously said it that way one purpose.

"I was confused for a moment and I asked him what implications he was talking about. So then he tells me in his sexy bedroom voice that I made him promise not to leave marks on me where others could see them which meant he was free to leave them in places no one could see them." Her cheeks were on fire retelling the story. "So I made a shocked looking face and started to say that that wasn't exactly what I meant, but he cut me off with a kiss and let go of my hand to slip it under my shirt. Then he stopped kissing me long enough to tell me 'no onna, I told you I would show you after dinner and that is what I plan to do' before he kissed me again."

Thinking back on it she would really have to start watching her words around him. Although what she accidentally said to him in this case turned out to be good who knows what she might say the next time. Tatsuki and Rukia both snickered at hearing this part of the story and waited for her to continue.

"So needless to say I have quite a few more marks on me today than I did yesterday and so does he." She laughed at this part, like she was going to let him have all the fun. Not that when he had fun she didn't, she definitely liked it but she didn't get to finish what she was doing that morning that had started everything. Tatsuki and Rukia both cheered for her laughing as they did, "Way to go Orihime." Quickly followed by "so where are they?" as they giggled at her again.

She thought about telling them the rest but she didn't think she would be able to say it without her face melting off. That didn't stop her from remembering it though. He broke their kiss to move lower down her body until he reached the bottom of her shirt and started to lift it slowly higher. Everywhere he exposed new skin he kissed it slowly working his way upwards. He kissed her stomach, before moving around to her ribs and then back down to her lower belly. He sat back for a second and she looked up at him confused as to why he had suddenly stopped.

He held his hand out to her and she took it and he pulled her into a sitting position. He quickly pulled her shirt up and over her head tossing it across the room before he quickly unsnapped her bra before she could say anything and tossed that across the room too. She looked up into his piercing eyes as he moved closer to her forcing her to lie back down until he was hovering over her his eyes boring into hers. He held her tightly feeling her naked breasts pushed up against his chest as he kissed her again

They both felt the need to feel every crease, every curve and every muscle on each other's bodies. He brought his hand up to caress her left breast as he broke their kiss his mouth trailing down her neck until she playfully slapped him on the shoulder as a reminder of his earlier promise not to leave marks there. She felt him smirk against her skin as his mouth trailed down to her other breast circling her nipple with his tongue before covering it and sucking on it gently.

She was in sheer ecstasy, she never knew anything could feel that good she brought her arms up to his shoulders before tangling one of her hands in his long dark hair trying to pull him closer to her. She arched her back and a moan tore from her throat as he bit her nipple gently before running his tongue over it to soothe the dull pain. She continued to moan as he moved to give her other breast the same attention as its partner.

His touch sent tingles along her skin and shivers up and down her spine. His long slow methodical licks made her blood sizzle in her veins and her heart pound. She moaned his name and tugged on his head to make him return to her which he gladly did, kissing her long and slowly their tongues intertwining and their bodies pressed together.

He quickly discovered that he wasn't the only one who wanted to explore. She pushed him onto his back reversing their positions and made him lay there while she finished what she had started that morning, as her tongue followed the path her hand had made and traced the lines of all his muscles. She had no idea just how much self control he had exhibited at that moment. She was making things very hard for him in more ways than one.

She followed the lines of his body memorizing it as she did so before following them up to the spot where the tattoo of her hairpins was. She traced the petals with her tongue before moving to bite his nipple gently as he had done to her earlier which earned a growl from him. She laughed as he growled at her before moving back up to kiss him again.

He flipped them back over until he was once again over her never once breaking their kiss. It was strange how she felt so comfortable with him as to let things go this far so soon. He hadn't been back that long but after he had come back and kissed her that first night it was like she couldn't get enough of his kisses and his gentle caresses. Having part of her heart probably had a lot to do with why she was so comfortable with him. With all the power he possessed he could snap her like a twig but he was always so gentle and tender with her. She could almost feel the electricity between them when they were together like this. The world seemed to melt away when he kissed her and she knew that he would never hurt her. She could feel their spiritual pressure's mingling and entwining with each others in the same way that their tongues did when they kissed.

She could feel the bulge pressing into her thigh and knew exactly what it was. She let her hand slip from around his shoulder and down his chest as she ran her fingers over his abs and lower still. Running her hand along the bulge in his pants caressing it, his body reacted by thrusting into her hand before he froze. Did the onna have any idea what she was doing right then. He wondered if she knew that she was playing with fire at that moment. He broke their kiss to look into her eyes and she saw it, the fire burning in his emerald eyes and the lust he had for her at that moment.

Slipping her hand inside his pants she grabbed his erection and felt it pulsing against her fingers as she gave it an experimental stroke. He closed his eyes burying his head in her neck and shoulder pulling her close as she did it again. She continued to stroke him slowly at first and then growing more comfortable with what she was doing she gripped him harder and began to pump her hand up and down faster. He moved in time with her matching the pace she had set, a thin layer of sweat beginning to form on both their heated bodies making it so that their bodies slid against each other like two warm sticks of butter.

He couldn't see and he couldn't breathe but he could hear her trying to breathe as she turned her face toward his burying her nose in his cheek and kissing the side of his face. He was almost there, so close. He could feel her breathing washing over his face, her breath heavy and tired, reminding him to breathe as he had almost forgotten until his body shook against her as he reached his climax and his movements slowed. She removed her hand from his pants and brought it back up to his face where she pushed some of his hair from his face where it had begun sticking with all the heat between them.

He lifted his head to look into her eyes in wonder as she smiled at him. That had not been in his original plans. He had only planned on getting the onna topless and exploring the skin above her waist, knowing she wasn't ready to go all the way. He wasn't planning on her wanting to touch him the way that she did. He thought that he was going to spend another night uncomfortably aroused in this pathetically weak gigai. He had been wrong. He should have known since the onna was the one who started their activities earlier that morning that she wanted to touch him. He just hadn't known when he started their activities that night that he would be the one trembling in her arms.

He began trailing his hand lower until he reached the waistband of her pants. He was about to slip his hand inside when she said, "stop" and he did immediately. He looked at her trying to figure out why she had stopped him and she just kissed him and said she wasn't ready for that yet. He nodded his head acknowledging her wishes as he leaned in and kissed her again before laying on his back as she snuggled up to him and laid her head on his chest. She could hear his heart still beating erratically and she laughed. When he asked her why she was laughing she replied, "I can hear our heart pounding." He sighed and pulled her closer to him as he felt her breathing begin to even out as she fell asleep listening to his heart.

He fell into a comfortable sleep soon after her until the morning where she awoke first. Somehow they had ended up spooning again with his arms wrapped around her trapping her in his strong embrace. She snuggled into his warm back and as he felt her starting to squirm around he woke up and tightened his hold on her. Kissing her and telling her "good morning onna" she laughed at him. His hair was a mess sticking out in all directions. She knew that was probably mostly all her fault from the way she had buried her hands in it last night.

When she got up to go shower she laughed as she noticed several new marks on her. One near her right breast and one by her ribs and another on her stomach, thankfully true to his word none of them were in places that others were likely to see. He showered after her and she noticed when he got up after she was done getting ready that she wasn't the only one with marks, she had left a few on his chest as well.

The two of them got ready and headed off to school. As they walked together she held his hand lacing their fingers together as he had done last night. He looked down at her and squeezed her hand gently as they continued their walk. All morning in class she couldn't concentrate. Which brought her to her current situation; Tatsuki and Rukia had noticed that she had never answered their earlier question about where said marks were located. She had drifted off into la la land again and had that goofy look on her face.

As the bell rang Ulquiorra got up from underneath the tree he had been sitting under and approached the three women. Tatsuki and Rukia both looked at him and laughed. He noticed that the onna was daydreaming again and he couldn't help but be satisfied knowing that he was partly to blame for it. He knew the onna had told her friends about what had happened last night.

He snapped his fingers in front of the onna's face causing her to snap out of her daydream and smile up at him. He told her it was time to return to class and he walked with the three of them back to the classroom. They were among the last ones to enter the classroom and the three girls were all laughing as they entered with Ulquiorra who had on his usual poker face.

The boys in their group of friends looked up at them incredulously. Was Ulquiorra really that funny of a guy? Yesterday Tatsuki and Rukia couldn't stop laughing at some joke he supposedly told them, and today was more of the same only Orihime seemed to be in on the joke this time as well. Renji made a vow that he would find out somehow what exactly made Ulquiorra so funny. He just couldn't understand it, it didn't make any sense.

Ichigo looked ticked off and tried asking Rukia what was up, and why she came walking in with Ulquiorra but she had ignored him and just told him that the four of them ate lunch together. The rest of the day passed in much the same way, Orihime was zoning out the whole day while Tatsuki and Rukia would talk to Ulquiorra on their breaks. Ichigo tried talking to Orihime once that day but he kept staring at her neck, it kind of freaked her out a little bit. She wondered if he had maybe seen the hickey yesterday and was getting suspicious about her and Ulquiorra. Tatsuki and Rukia in all the excitement of getting her to spill the details of why she looked like that all day had forgotten to tell her about Ichigo's theory that Ulquiorra was a vampire.

As soon as the day was over Orihime rushed home with Ulquiorra again and they all went their separate ways. Upon returning to Urahara's shop Renji overheard something he didn't think he was supposed to hear. He heard Yoruichi and Urahara talking, Yoruichi seemed angry and told Urahara, "if you don't tell them soon, I will. The closer they get the harder it will make their decision." Urahara sighed "I know." He knew he wasn't supposed to hear that and debated whether or not to just keep it to himself but he couldn't. He walked in the room and told them, "If you're talking about Ulquiorra and Orihime, I have a feeling that they've already gotten pretty close. What's going on?" Urahara and Yoruichi looked at each other before telling Renji to sit down while they proceeded to tell him the details of their conversation.

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**A/N: Yeah this whole chapter is pretty much one big lime. Haha. Uh-oh it seems that Urahara and Yoruichi let Renji in on the big secret. I wonder what decision their talking about. It seems Ichigo is still stuck on his vampire theory too. I loved the how the girls pulled Orihime aside for girl talk and made her spill about what happened. I actually re-wrote this chapter about three times. The first two versions were much different and I left out the details of what happened between the two of them but I decided not to do that to you guys which is how this chapter ended up the way it did. Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think. **


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